Wreaking Revenge
by Dory's human replica
Summary: There are people out there who want revenge for Shredder's death but, when crunch time comes, will they prove to be friend or foes? Sequel to Biggest Battle of their Mutant Lives. COMPLETE.
1. Default Chapter

**Summary: -** Remember how the Shredder was destroyed in Biggest Battle of Their Mutant lives? Well, this is my sequel. Somebody wants revenge - but will the many sources be friends or foes when the time of judgement comes?

**Disclaimer: -** I don't own the TMNT, much as I would like to! Kev and Pete - you are too cool!

**A/N: -** I promised everyone a sequel and I am here to deliver the goods! The reviews you sent me for the last chapter of BBOTML were so amazing and I loved reading them! I hope this can be as good as my last story! I've been writing it for about a month now and keeping it ready for publishing, writing and re-writing it! It's kinda hard to believe that I've been on for an entire year now and this story is to mark that - I hope you enjoy it – and this Mikey-centric chapter is dedicated to Lioness Goddess. Now, enjoy and review at the bottom whether you liked it or not!

"Of all the lazy, uncooperative, smarmy little----"

"Talking about me again, Raphy?" Mikey raised an eye ridge as his furious elder brother raged through the lair.

"Damn right, I'm talking about you! What, in your twisted little mind, possessed you to paint our room bright orange?!"

"I thought I was being quite creative," answered Mikey earnestly, "and you're always so gloomy that I thought a different, brighter colour would cheer you up nicely."

"Oh yeah, you did a real good job, nitwit! But why the shell did you pick orange?"

"'Cause everyone knows it's the best colour."

"Why you little…!" Raph leapt at his brother and tackled him to the floor, holding one of his Sais to Mikey's throat.

"Take it easy, Raph. Ok, so what colour do _you_ want our room to be?"

"I want it red!"

"Sorry, no can do – red inspires anger and resentment."

"Fine, I want it green!"

"Ok, but you're helping this time."

"I don't think so," Raph growled, "you messed up the room so you can fix it by yourself."

"And what if I don't?" Mikey dared, a mischievous grin creeping onto his face as he saw Splinter enter the living area behind Raph.

"I'll pummel you into oblivion!"

"You will do no such thing to your brother, Raphael. His intentions were good when he decorated your room and the least you can do is to help him repaint it after he went to all that trouble only to be threatened by you in an unfair and childish manner."

"Yes, Sensei," Raph sighed; knowing that to argue with Splinter would only mean that he would have to paint the room by himself. Splinter nodded and left back to his bedroom to meditate.

"Well, Raph – we'd better get started," Mikey cheerfully held up two paint brushes and led the way into their now orange room. It was a very vibrant colour and it matched Mikey's personality perfectly…unfortunately, Raph was a little less vibrant and good-natured so this colour just succeeded in enraging him! Mikey looked round but seemed to have encountered a problem already.

"What's up now, Mike?"

"We don't have any green paint,"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nuh-uh, there's no green paint anywhere. I have a lot more orange but no green." Mikey frowned, "Casey's coming round tomorrow to see us before he goes on his honeymoon, so we'll have to send him out for some."

"Oh no, there ain't no way I'm sleeping in this room tonight when it's bright orange! It reminds me too much of you!"

"Aw, you don't mean that,"

"Yes, I do – now come on, we're going topside," Raph snapped, grabbing his and Mikey's trench coats and hats and thrusting Mikey's into his arms.

"Alright! Hey, do you think we could pick up some pizza on the way back?"

"Yeah, why not," Raph climbed out of the lair and was followed by an excited Mikey. It had been a whole fourteen hours since his last slice of pizza and he didn't think he could last much longer!

"What shade did you get?" Mikey asked as Raph came out of the store conveniently named 'Paint Palace'.

"Take a guess,"

"Dark green?"

"Nope,"

"Light green?"

"Nope,"

"Middle green?"

"Nope – Turtle Green," Raph smiled at his youngest brother, "Now, what do you want on the pizza?"

"I feel like a Pepperoni Feast with extra cheese – and get four of them!"

"Why four?" Raph stopped walking and looked sideways at his brother.

"I'm not sharing mine!" Mikey shrugged, "and Sensei said he never wanted to see another pizza until we'd cleared away the boxes from our pizza party we had."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," grinned Raph, remembering two nights before when they had invited April and Casey round for a pizza party where there was at least twenty pizzas. He walked in and got the pizzas and he and Mikey began to make their way back to the lair.

"Can we play a game?" Mikey asked when they were halfway home.

"What sort of game?"

"I spy?"

"Ok – I spy, with my turtle eye, something beginning with…B,"

"Box?" Mikey guessed.

"No,"

"Bench?"

"Yes – your turn."

"I spy, with my turtle eye, something beginning with…with…A, S, F, L, P, T, B, A, S, R, T, S!"

"How the shell am I supposed to get that? What is it?" Raph elbowed Mikey, who almost dropped the pizzas.

"A seriously freaky looking person that bears a striking resemblance to Shredder!"

"What?!" Raph span round to where Mikey was pointing. Sure enough, high up on the roof of an office block, there was someone wearing a bladed suit. They could only see the silhouette but even that was enough to scare them witless. But there was one thing that puzzled them more than anything else. How the shell could that possibly be Shredder?

"Dude, was Shredder always that skinny?" Mikey asked shakily as they ran.

"No, but I expect he's been living off next to nothing since we supposedly killed him!"

"But how the hell did he survive? We shot him and everything – we threw him in water and there was blood pouring out of him!"

"I don't know – come on, we gotta report this to the others!" Raph picked up his pace and Mikey followed close behind him, holding onto his precious pizzas tightly.

"You are certain of this?"

"Almost positive – only one person we know wears a bladed suit like that," Raph had just finished explaining what had happened to him and Mikey.

"But that's impossible, isn't it?" Donnie looked round at his brothers and Sensei. Splinter looked mildly confused, Raph was clearly frustrated, Mikey was jumping around nervously and munching on a slice of pizza, but Leo just sat in silence, head slightly bowed, listening but not talking.

"What are you thinking about, my son?" Splinter asked his eldest son in concern.

"I'm thinking through the night we killed Shredder. It can't be him again – we shot him and drowned him. No-one could've survived that, not even the Shredder."

"There was one thing I forgot to mention…" Raph trailed off, thoughtful.

"What is that, Raphael?"

"This Shredder was a lot skinnier than the one we knew. And I know I said he must've been living off next to nothing but his armour wouldn't have shrunk, would it? This has to be someone out for revenge – there's no other explanation!"

"But who would want revenge for the Shred-head?" Mikey questioned, bewildered, finishing the last slice of his pizza.

"I hate to say it but he's right," Leo said, "if this Shredder was skinny then it wouldn't have been Hun. And the Foot are no more – they're all either locked up or have fled to Europe."

"Then who could it possibly be?"

"Who else do we know that was in league with Shredder?" Donnie asked, more to himself than to anyone else. After a few moments' thought, his eyes widened in a sudden realisation. How could he have missed it?

"What is it, Don?"

"I know who it is…" Donnie trailed off.

"Then quit stalling and tell us, brainiac," an impatient Raph half-yelled.

"It's Marcie – she's the only one with a motive for revenge that I can think of."

"Then we gotta do something!" Raph rose from his seat, twirling his Sais.

"No, my sons. She is no threat to us for the moment. She has no army so it would be impossible to find her. We shall leave it until the danger is a little greater." Splinter said.

"Ok, Sensei, but I still don't like this…" Raph growled.

The next day was spent relaxing and Mikey was painting his and Raph's bedroom. Raph had gone off to get more paint and Mikey was stuck. Raph had said he wanted every wall green but Mikey wasn't sure whether he should paint the wrestling posters or not. They were on the wall, weren't they? Eventually he decided to paint them and then break for lunch.

"NO!" Raph shrieked as Mikey entered the room again, after leaving to wipe the paint off his brush as it had become all clotted and sticky when he'd taken a break for lunch and not cleaned it.

"What? Dude, I thought you'd like it!"

"You painted my wrestling poster green?"

"You said you wanted every wall green,"

"I didn't mean to paint over the posters, numbskull!"

"Then you should have made that more obvious when you gave me the instructions, seeing as you left me on my own this morning."

"I went to get more paint!" Raph slapped his youngest brother round the back of the head with a paint brush, fortunately with no paint on it.

"Oops – uh, I should probably run now, screaming like a woman, right?" Mikey began to back nervously out of the room.

"You got it," Raph clenched his fists and, giving Mikey a five second head start, chased after his brother in orange.

"Raph, why is Mikey running round like a headless chicken again?" Donnie asked as he watched in utter puzzlement as his brothers ran round the house.

"Look what he did to my posters!" Raph yelled, gesturing frantically towards the room he and Mikey shared, "geez, sometimes I wish I was sharing with Leo!"

"Whoa," whispered Don as Raph ran off after Mikey again, "he must be really peeved,"

"You bet he is, Don – he's out to kill me this time!" Mikey cried, sprinting past Donnie for the second time, "all I did was paint over his stupid wrestling posters – why does he have a problem? He clearly told me to paint every scrap of every wall thoroughly!"

"You painted over his posters? Casey gave him those ages ago – you're in for it this time, Mike!"

"I'm in for it every time – it's always me! ARGH!" Mikey was knocked backwards as he ran straight into the livid form of Raphael.

"Give me three good reasons why I shouldn't pummel you,"

"I'm your youngest and most adorable brother!"

"Next," Raph rolled his eyes. The first excuse was pathetic.

"I didn't mean to paint over the posters – you really weren't very clear with your instructions."

"And?" Raph knew the second reason was valid as he should've known that Mikey would follow the exact instructions given and only think after he'd painted the posters green.

"I'm really sorry and I'm sure Casey can get you some new ones somewhere and I promise never to do it again and I'm----"

"Ok, enough grovelling already. I'll let you off this time," Raph folded his arms and walked back into the half green bedroom to continue painting.

"That went well," laughed Mikey as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Extremely," agreed the surprised Donnie. Raph should've pummelled Mikey – not that Donnie wanted that to happen – but for Raph to let it slip was unnatural. He shook it from his mind and continued his research. Leo had gone off to the dojo to practice the newest, and most difficult, of the Katas they had been shown that month and Donnie didn't feel that Raph's kindness of heart was not an important enough matter for disturbing Leo and facing his wrath in some sort of challenge.

"Leo?" Donnie asked as he heard the springs of the bed under his creak.

"Yeah?" was the hushed reply.

"Where are you going?"

"I heard something and I'm going to investigate."

"Hang on, I want to come too," Donnie eased himself out of bed and down the ladder to the floor, following the alert and wary Leo out of the room. They crept round the entire lair looking for the source of the sound but, after a long and tiring search, they found nothing to prove that someone had been there. Donnie was ready to sleep but Leo was convinced that it was more than just his family that was in the lair.

"I know I heard something."

"You're probably just tired. We should go back to bed. And anyway, if something had got into the lair then it would have had to get past the perimeter alarms first, and they are in every tunnel surrounding the lair – you know I always turn them on extra-sensitive when we all go to bed so that we don't take any risks."

"I know Don, and you're probably right, but I just can't help thinking we've missed something…"

"Look, I'll check the status of the alarms if you're that worried," offered Donnie, willing to do anything to stop his brother panicking. It was either do something now or go on a search of the entire sewer network the next morning.

"Thanks, Donnie,"

"No problem," Donnie logged onto his computer and found the map of the sewer which indicated which alarms were on or not. Scrolling down the list he began to stop reading and let the lines on the screen blur as he yawned.

"Stop!" gasped Leo. Donnie snapped out of his daze and looked at where Leo's finger was pointing. One of the alarms had been disabled and another destroyed. They whipped round and scanned the living area but couldn't hear or see anything of a suspicious nature. There was a small sound as someone…or something…stepped on an old pizza box and slipped, causing another pile of boxes to tumble. Whatever was buried beneath them was digging itself out frantically.

"Whoever you are – give yourself up," Donnie said, trying to sound threatening in spite of the panic setting upon him.

"Relax, dudes…it's me!"

"Mikey!" Leo scolded, "What were you doing sneaking around?"

"I heard something and Raph wasn't in his bed."

"He wasn't?" Leo looked worried.

"That explains it…"

"Explains what, Donnie?"

"The alarms can only be disabled from this computer – Raph would have disabled one of the alarms so he could get out and go topside. But the destroyed alarm was the next tunnel along from the disabled one so it suggests that when Raph was coming back he must've got into a fight and the other alarm was destroyed…"

"So why isn't Raph back yet?" Mikey asked.

"That's what worries me…" Donnie trailed off, biting his lip in concern.

**A/N: -** No more waffle from me for the moment. All I want to say is I hope you liked this first instalment and please let me know what you thought!


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: -** Next chapter is here and ready to go. Thank you for all your reviews – I am here to solve the mystery of the disappearing Raph…

"RAPH?" Leo yelled as he and his brothers searched the tunnels surrounded their lair for their hot-headed brother, "WHERE THE SHELL ARE YOU?"

"Leo?" a hoarse voice called back from somewhere straight ahead. Leo gasped and ran forward.

"Raph, where are you?" he called into the darkness.

"Leo…don't…it's a trap!" Raph's voice was strained. Leo stopped walking and froze, hardly even daring to breathe. Suddenly, there was a bright light and Leo found himself sinking and losing his grip on reality as he attempted to shield his eyes from the overpowering light.

Groaning, Leo opened his eyes and found himself hung upside-down by his feet. He looked about him and took in the gloominess of the tunnel. To his right was the tunnel from which he had come looking for Raph. And to his left was the temperamental turtle himself, arms folded and frowning at Leo.

"I did warn you." Stated Raph bluntly.

"Not until I was actually in the trap, you didn't!"

"You should have run then. If someone tells you you're walking right into a trap then you don't just keep walking – that's the sort of thing Mikey should be doing, not you."

"Well excuse me for wanting to find my brother!"

"You should stop trying to play the hero so much, Leo." Raph scowled, "give someone else a go for a change."

"Maybe I would let you lead every once in a while if you weren't so damn irresponsible, Raphael," Leo growled, using his brother's full name to emphasize his point.

"Shut up, oh fearless leader, and pull your head out your ass."

"Raph, you don't ever speak to me like that again when I'm in the process of saving our shells."

"Oh yeah? What you gonna do, fearless leader? You seem a little tied up at the moment. And, in case you haven't noticed, you're hanging upside-down from the roof of a tunnel in the middle of nowhere under the streets of New York with no food and no water."

"I had noticed," Leo sighed, "We shouldn't be fighting in a situation like this. We need to focus on the task at hand and get ourselves out of here."

"Yeah, you're right, but you started it."

"I did not!"

"Yeah you did!"

"No, I didn't!"

"You did!"

"Did not – and you know it!"

"DID, DID, DID!"

"I DID NOT!" screeched Leo.

"Well, well, well, isn't brotherly love just so beautiful?" a silky smooth female voice cackled.

"Shut up, you old hag!"

"I'm not old and I'm certainly not a hag. My man always loved me for my wild and daring nature and my looks aren't too shabby either. I believe you knew him – he was Oroku Saki, one of the most powerful men in the world and his plans would've turned out perfectly if it wasn't for you green freaks and your pet rat. Not to mention the reporter and her boyfriend with the hockey sticks."

"Marcie, we know that's you," Leo said venomously.

"Good, then there's no need for introductions, is there?"

"What do you want with us?"

"I simply wanted to congratulate you on defeating the best fighter in New York…and to give you a little message. If you give yourselves up to the authorities and reveal what you are then no-one needs to die…but if you remain stubborn then I'm afraid that I have a funny feeling you won't ever see your two human friends ever again!" Marcie gave one last cackle and ran off in the direction of the manhole, leaving Leo and Raph hanging about to wait until Donnie and Mikey found them.

"You guys ok?" Donnie asked as he and Mikey cut their brothers down.

"Why didn't you just use your katana to cut yourself free?" Mikey asked, as if stating the obvious. Leo just rolled his eyes,

"Because we would've fallen on our heads and that would've hurt!" Leo answered.

Life in the lair had been simple and sweet since they'd beaten the Shredder and now the last thing they wanted was to have to go through another load of battles and close encounters with death just as they'd got their lives back in order. The four brothers looked uneasily at each other – they were all thinking the same thing – how could one woman beat them and how far would she go to get her revenge?

"Guys," Leo sighed as he turned to face Mikey and Donnie, "Marcie's got Casey and April."

"What?"

"You aren't serious,"

"Deadly," Raph replied to his two younger brothers, "and we gotta get them back."

"What did she want in exchange for them?" Donnie asked softly.

"We have to reveal ourselves to New York and let ourselves be taken for experiments by the authorities."

"But we can't do that! If everyone knows who we are and starts experimenting on us then Marcie will be free to do what she likes in the city and there'll be no-one to stop her."

"Well figured out, Mikey," Raph clapped for his brother in a sarcastic manner.

"Hey, I'm the 'lazy, un-cooperative, smarmy one', remember?" Mikey counted off the insults Raph had made on his fingers. Raph growled menacingly and stomped back off towards the lair. His three brothers shot knowing looks at each other and also headed back to their home.

"My sons, we must not let Marcie take the lives of our human friends. But we must also remain hidden from the outside world. This is a difficult decision to make but we will have to make it. Did she say how long she would give us?"

"She didn't say."

"Then she will almost certainly be back within the next few weeks. In the meantime, we must try and discover the whereabouts of Marcie's headquarters." Splinter rose and shuffled into his room, sliding the door shut behind him.

"So, what do we do?" Mikey questioned, opening a bag of popcorn.

"We do what Master Splinter said and find the whereabouts of Marcie's HQ." Leo replied grimly. Mikey thrust several handfuls of toffee popcorn into his mouth at once and crunched loudly.

"Mmph mmmmph mmm mmmph mm mmmph mmph, mmm,"

"Mikey, don't talk with your mouth full – you're spraying popcorn everywhere!" exclaimed Donnie, wiping a chewed piece of popcorn off his face. Mikey swallowed and finished what he was trying to say,

"I said, but where the shell do we start?"

"How about the old Foot HQ?" Leo said thoughtfully, looking round for the opinions of his brothers.

"That sounds logical," Donnie agreed.

"Yeah, real logic going there, Leo," added Raph.

"Mikey, what do you think?" Leo prompted a response from his youngest brother.

"Sure, whatever."

"Good, we start tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Now everyone has to get some rest – we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Why is it always dawn?" grumbled a moody Raph as he walked off to his and Mikey's newly painted room. The paint had dried in the many hours they'd been out but they left the beds in the middle of the room anyway. Donnie and Leo stayed up a little longer than their brothers as they felt they needed to do some research into where there had been most crime recently.

"I don't believe it," gasped Donnie as he gazed, wide eyed with astonishment, at the screen of his computer, "all the crimes have been evenly distributed around different areas of New York."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that Marcie is making our lives difficult by having several hotspots for crime that all have the same amount of crimes committed in them. That way, we won't be able to tell where her headquarters are…"

"I get it…so we need to pick where to start and work methodically round each area, right?"

"Right – c'mon, we'd better get some sleep." Donnie shut down the computer, stretched and left Leo standing by the computer, still utterly dumbfounded. Shaking his head, he followed his brother back into their room and let himself drift off slowly.

"Wake up, Raph. And you, Mikey – come on!" Leo pulled the covers off each of his brothers in turn. Donnie was packing a few essentials and some equipment for any scientific evidence he would have to get along the way.

"Aw man, Leo," Mikey groaned, "way to wake a guy,"

"I was trying to sleep!"

"Raph, we have to find April and Casey, remember?"

"Oh crap," Raph was out of bed like a shot but Mikey still just sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing at his eyes and yawning until his brothers were all ready.

"Ok, guys, this is going to be harder than we thought it would be."

"Whaddaya mean, Don?" frowned Raph.

"Marcie has evenly targeted several different areas, making it extremely difficult to find her headquarters. And the areas she's targeted are all at opposite ends of the city. We really have our work cut out for us."

"Then let's get started," ordered Leo, slinging his bag over his shoulder and leading the way out of the lair.

"Ok, this is the first spot…" whispered Donnie as the four brothers peered out from behind a large pile of crates on a construction site for residential housing, "the people who work here are getting items stolen every day they come so many of them have stopped turning up for work."

"How'd you know that?"

"Do you see any evidence of people being here recently?"

"No, I guess not."

"Anyway, we need to check this place out. Come on," Donnie checked to see if the coast was clear before turning on his torch and moving onto the actual site itself. His brothers followed and the four of them shone the thin beams of light from the torch into every secret passage or hidey-hole that could be found.

"Hey, guys, over here!" Mikey called excitedly.

"Mikey, have you found something?"

"Yeah! Quick, come and see!" Mikey was practically jumping up and down, "it's beautiful!"

"Ok…" Leo hesitated, having a feeling that Mikey hadn't found what they were looking for. But he rushed over with Donnie and Raph anyway.

"Well, what did you find?" asked Raph anxiously.

"Tada!" Mikey brought a box out from behind his back and opened it to show his brothers, "How's this for breakfast?"

"Pizza?!" Donnie laughed, "Where the shell did you get that?"

"It was just on the floor, all lonely and waiting for someone to find it and eat it."

"I can't believe this."

"You found it on the floor?" Leo asked, tensing and slowly drawing one Katana.

"Yeah, so what?" Mikey shrugged. Leo froze and looked up fearfully.

"RUN!" he screeched.

"What---" Mikey didn't even finish before he was dragged off the site by Raph. As they ran, they heard a series of crashes behind them but they didn't dare to look back. Once safely off the site and several blocks away from it, they stopped to catch their breath. They were concealed in a pitch black alleyway, gasping for air.

"What was that about?" panted Raph, wiping an arm across his forehead and leaning heavily against the wall.

"I'm not sure…Leo?" Donnie turned to get his oldest brother's opinion but Leo was nowhere in sight.

"Man, where the shell is he?"

"If we knew then we wouldn't be looking, dimwit," snarled Raph.

"Geez, what side of the bed did you wake up on?" mumbled Mikey. He knew Raph blamed him for Leo's sudden disappearance but if it hadn't been him that had found the pizza then it would've been someone else. Damn, why did Raph always blame him for everything?

"LEO?" yelled Donnie as they retraced their steps back towards the construction site where they had last seen their brother.

"Argh!" Mikey suddenly screamed, "Something's got me!"

"Mikey, relax, it's just me," a familiar voice hissed in the orange clad turtle's ear.

"Leo? Where the shell did you get to?"

"Leo, thank shell!"

"You had us worried."

"I know, I'm sorry, but I had to see if anyone came off the site that might lead us to the HQ." Leo explained.

"And did they?"

"No-one. I even scanned the site again but no-one was there. The pipes and framework that was dropped on us had been tied up near the top of each house and the ropes had been cut. And yet there were no footprints and no-one left the site."

"They could have escaped from the other side…" suggested Raph.

"Not possible – There's a sixty foot fence on the other side and I checked it over and there weren't any holes in it and none of the houses were close enough for anyone to jump over it."

"We need to keep going and find another site. If we don't figure this out in the next few hours then we'll be in trouble." Donnie sighed and the four turtles left in search of the next site. And from a high roof-top, a solitary figure smirked down on them.

**A/N: -** Love it or hate it, review and let me know. I am donning my flame retardant clothing at this very moment, but I hope I won't need it! J See you the next time I update…which will be soon…hopefully! ;-)


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N: -** I am so sorry I haven't updated as quickly as I wanted to - I was banned from the site again...but yet again it was for a ridiculous reason! Thank you sooooooo much for all your reviews. It's so much fun to read them! I like reviews – anyway, new topic, the next chapter! It's here and ready for you to read. Only one thing left to say now: - ENJOY!

The next site they were led to was the dock; a site none of them had wished to revisit in a hurry. It brought back too many memories and the four brothers physically shuddered at the thought of it.

"I never wanted to see this place again," growled Raph, shivering not with the cold but with fear.

"None of us wanted to see this place again…" Leo put a shaky hand on Raph's shoulder.

"Yeah – I wonder if the Shred-Head's body is still down there," Mikey peered over the edge of the wooden decking and into the deep blue waters that lay below.

"Maybe," Donnie answered, "the chances of the body being discovered are highly unlikely."

"Good thing too – if Marcie got hold of it then she'd probably go all evil scientist on us and find a way to bring the Shredder back to life!" Mikey ignored the glares Raph and Leo were shooting at him.

"No-one's here," Leo observed quietly, listening for any sound that might signal the presence of another.

"Let's go," sighed Raph, turning to walk away. Suddenly, he crashed down through the decking and landed with a loud _splash_. His three shocked brothers ran to where he'd fallen though but they too crashed down through the decking and into the water one after the other. Coughing and choking they surfaced again,

"What the shell was that about?" Donnie coughed up at least three litres of water as he grabbed hold of Raph.

"I'm not sure – but I think these guys are stupider than we thought they were. They seem to have forgotten that we're turtles," Mikey replied before Leo could open his mouth to say something.

"Uh, guys?" Raph froze. He'd seen something and it wasn't very pleasant. Right above them, grinning down at them through the holes they'd created when they'd fallen through the decking, was Marcie.

"So, I see you doubt the intelligence of my forces – how utterly foolish of you. You have until next Friday to give yourselves in to authorities before I kill your human friends. Of course, the longer you leave it, the less chance there is of them being completely unscathed…so I suppose we'll soon see how much you value your allies and friends…" she cackled and left the turtles, who were despairing. They swum round to the edge of the dock and clambered out of the freezing water, laying on the decking until they'd caught their breath again.

"We can't let her kill April and Casey!" Raph exclaimed.

"I know, Raph, but we can't give ourselves into the authorities either. But at least now we have a deadline so we know how much time we have to think of a plan." Leo sighed, getting to his feet and helping his brother up.

"You know what I think?" Mikey asked.

"You _think_?" Raph looked shocked.

"Ha ha, very funny, Raphael. I think that while we're thinking of a plan it would be a good idea to think about what pizza topping we want to order on our pizzas for when we get back to the lair."

"You know what, Mikey? That's the most intelligent thing you've come up with all year!" Raph clapped his youngest brother on the back before rolling his eyes and walking on in the direction they would need to take to get back to their home.

"Uh, one large pizza with anchovies, mustard, whipped cream and jelly beans – what so you mean you don't do jelly beans? Fine, we'll have three large cheese feasts, please and we'll put our own toppings on them! Yeah, we'll pick them up! Bye!" Mikey slammed the phone down, "can you believe it?! They don't do anchovies, mustard, whipped cream and jelly beans!"

"I'm so shocked, I'm lost for words," Raph drawled sarcastically, smirking at Donnie and Leo. Donnie was trying to stifle his laughter but Leo looked tense.

"So who's gonna pick them up?" he asked.

"Uh, not me – I phoned through the order!"

"Not me, I need to re-arrange the furniture in mine and Mikey's room," Raph said hurriedly.

"I'll go if you do," Donnie offered, standing up and pulling on his trench coat and hat.

"Thanks, Don – it's nice to know that not everyone in this family makes pathetic excuses so they can stay here and watch TV." Leo shot a dirty look at Raph and Mikey, who were shifting uncomfortably. Donnie laughed and climbed up the ladder and out of the manhole and onto the street, closely followed by Leo.

"What do you make of this, Leo?" Donnie asked as he rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm them.

"I'm not sure what to think, Donnie. If we stay hidden then Casey and April will die – but if we give ourselves up then we will be thrown into some sort of lab or zoo for tests and public entertainment."

"I know what you mean…Raph wants us to give ourselves up…"

"Yeah, but he's not thinking fully about the consequences. I don't want Casey and April dead but I also don't want our family put in danger." Leo sighed as they reached the pizza shop. Since the time when Raph had encountered one of their delivery boys, they had always made sure they ordered pizzas from Pippy-roni's Pizzeria. The two reptilian brothers entered the shop, picked up the pizzas and made their way slowly back to the lair.

"Hey, Leo," Donnie suddenly saw something up on a roof not too far from where they were walking, "do you think that's one of Marcie's goons?"

"It's not big enough to be one of her fighters…it looks like a child," Leo replied, squinting as he tried to focus in on whoever it was that was watching them.

"Oh shell," Donnie gasped as he realised who it was, "it's Kirsty!"

"CRUD!" Leo yelled, taking off at a sprint to cover the last few blocks back to the manhole that was the entrance to their sewer home. He had to tell Splinter and the others; it was Kirsty that had been at the construction site that night. Marcie was using her own daughter to follow the turtles. It was a brilliant plan on Marcie's part, for who would suspect an innocent looking little girl of something so evil?

Arriving, breathless and agitated, back at the lair, Leo and Donnie were confronted as soon as they walked in. Raph wanted to know why they were out of breath, as did Splinter, while Mikey just wanted to know if they'd damaged the pizzas!

"You remember Kirsty?" Leo asked Raph as they sat round the kitchen table and opened the pizzas.

"Yeah – that's Marcie's daughter, right?"

"Right and she's the one who was at the construction site. She was the one who cut the ropes that held up the pipes and metal frames."

"No kidding?" Mikey had his mouth full of pizza.

"No kidding," Donnie grimaced, "I hate to say it but it looks like Marcie wants revenge for Shredder's death…"

"What do we do, Sensei?" Leo turned to Splinter, who had his head bowed in thought. On hearing his eldest son's voice, he looked up slowly,

"I do not know, Leonardo. I think that Kirsty is no threat to us at the present time. For the moment, we must focus our attentions on Casey and April if they are to live to see their honeymoon."

"Crud, I'd forgotten about that – Marcie must've kidnapped them after the wedding while they were on their way to the airport!" Raph smacked himself in the head.

"Where were they going for their honeymoon anyway?" Donnie raised an eye ridge curiously.

"Paris…you know, all that 'city of love' crap," Raph waved a hand dismissively, "but they ain't ever gonna get to see it if we don't do something!"

"Raph, please keep your temper – we can't help April and Casey if all you're gonna do is get stressed out and run off to try and rescue them on your own." Leo scolded him.

"Oh, that's right, Mr. Perfect – you share your perfect views with everyone – as always...excuse me while I bow at your feet!"

"Raph, that's not fair!"

"Oh, 'it's not fair, Raph, it's not fair'" Raph imitated Leo, putting on a whiny voice that made him sound like a three year old. Twirling his Sais and tucking them into his belt, Raph stormed into the dojo and, moments later, the sound of tearing material could be heard where Raph was once again taking his frustrations out on their new punch bag. The problem was, it didn't look new and they'd only had it for a week. This was because Raph and Leo had been arguing a lot again recently and afterwards, every time Leo won, Raph would stomp into the dojo and beat up the punch bag as if it were Leo…at one point he'd even tied a blue bandana round it and torn it to shreds. April had managed to patch it up that time but it was very doubtful that she'd be able to fix it from her current position. Leo was massaging his temples, feeling everyone's eyes on him. That was the seventh argument so far that week that he'd had with Raph…and it was only Thursday!

"Raph will get over it," Donnie reassured Leo as the two of them sat on the floor of the room they shared.

"Yeah, I guess," Leo sighed, climbing into his bed.

"He will," Donnie repeated, climbing up the ladder to his own bed and pulling the covers up over his head. It had been a long morning and it was about time they had a rest.

Mikey awoke at about midday, his stomach telling him it was about time for something to eat. He crept into the kitchen, secretly hoping he would get there before any of his brothers woke up and finished the last of the pizza. But as he neared the kitchen he heard raised voices. _They're at it again?! Sheesh, they need to get a hobby!_ He winced as he heard something smash and heard Raph reel of a list of curses that was directly aimed at Leo. Leo was responding with curses of his own and Mikey saw no need to get involved. He would just wait outside for one of his brothers to win the argument and then he'd make a move in to lighten the mood.

"You think you can tell me what to do?! Well, guess what, Leo, you can't!"

"Raph, you're not thinking rationally – you'd never be able to rescue them on your own! We need to do it as a team!"

"'Cept my team is a complete let-down!" Raph snapped, launching himself at his older brother, catching him off guard and knocking him to the floor.

"Don't you dare say that! Insult me and my leadership as much as you want but don't insult Mikey and Donnie when they're not here to defend themselves!" Leo kicked Raph off and pinned him down.

"Get off me, Leo! Fine, I'll obey you: you can't lead, you can't fight well enough to be leader, you think you're so perfect but you ain't, you think you're better than me just because Sensei likes you better. And I _know_ Mikey and Donnie would agree with me when I say that you're a stupid, power-hungry, lousy excuse for a brother!" Raph threw Leo off and stalked off; leaving a baffled Leo sat on the floor by the table, breathing heavily. Mikey timidly shuffled into the room and sat down, taking a slice of pizza as he did so.

"You mind if I ask what that was about?"

"Nah – Raph just thinks he can rescue Casey and April on his own without us and I was merely pointing out the flaws in the plans that he'd made…then he got mad…"

"Yeah, I heard the last few minutes of it. And, just for the record, I don't agree with him and neither would Donnie." Mikey bit his lip, hoping he'd said the right thing. Leo got to his feet and wrapped his youngest brother in a brief hug,

"Thanks, Mike," he whispered before leaving to practise in the dojo. Mikey just stared after his brother, confused. He didn't understand why Leo and Raph had been arguing so much lately – the situation hadn't been helped by the kidnap of April and Casey but they had been getting ratty with each other before then anyway. He picked up the box with the remaining few slices of pizza in it and headed to the dojo to find Leo. _It's time someone got to the bottom of this! Sherlock Mikey…I like it,_ he thought as he walked.

"Hey, Leo…you want pizza?" Mikey asked as he entered the dojo. But Leo was nowhere in sight, "uh, Leo?" he looked round nervously.

"Mikey?" Leo was directly behind Mikey.

"Shell, you had me worried there!"

"I was just waking Donnie. We have to go after Raph – he's probably out looking for Marcie's HQ again,"

"Yeah, probably. So, where do we start?"

"Donnie is looking to see where we haven't been yet,"

"Guys, I know where Raph is!" Donnie ran into the dojo and Leo and Mikey whirled round to face him.

"What…I mean, how? The crime spots are all so spread out! How do you know which one he's gone to?"

"Think about it, he wouldn't want to go trailing over to the other side of the city without us and there's a crime spot close to Casey and April's apartment. We just assumed that was because they were trying to throw us off course. But Raph will have gone there looking for clues as he also probably doesn't know exactly where the crime spots are and knows that he won't be able to get to many of them in broad daylight. He's not as stupid as he looks!"

"Trench coats on, everyone," Leo ordered, "we've got a Raphael to find…"

"Raph, it's not your fault," Leo put a hand on his brother's shoulder. Raph was knelt on the floor looking at the wedding photos of Casey and April.

"I know, Leo, but I can't help thinking there's something we can do." Raph sighed and picked up a photo that had been framed, handing it to his brother in blue, "look at this, Leo. I think they were planning on sending this to us."

"Huh?" Leo looked at the photo confused. It was a picture of Casey and April outside the church where they'd got married. Casey was grinning broadly and was dressed in a suit, but he still looked himself with the tie loose and his hair slightly messed up by the breeze. April, however, was smiling shyly at the camera and looked stunning in a strapless white dress that flared out at the bottom. Her hair was loose and she was wearing a headdress of white roses with a single red one at the front. As he peered closely at the photo, Leo noticed something else. Casey had a red bandana round one wrist and a blue one tied round the other. April had the same except the bandanas she wore were orange and purple. They looked slightly strange with the dress but it was a touching symbol none-the-less. On the back of the photo there was a message from each of them. Casey's message read: _Hey dudes, _

_We really wanted you at the wedding but, since that was impossible, we settled for borrowing some of your bandanas as a symbol – hope ya don't mind! I also wanted you to know that you're the best friends I've had in a long time! Thanks for all you've done for me, _

_Your friend, Casey Jones._

April's message read:_ Hi guys,_

_The wedding was gorgeous and I couldn't be happier. Thank you so much for everything you've done – if it weren't for you then me and Casey would never have lived long enough to get married. We're all family now, as I've said many times, and I hope that it will always remain that way,_

_The now happily married, April O'Neill._

Leo gave the picture to Mikey and Donnie, who each read it in turn, and an awkward silence fell over the group.

"So what do we do now?" Mikey asked nervously, bracing himself for another Raph and Leo fight.

"We go and find them," Leo answered softly.

"Really?" Raph looked gob-smacked as he got to his feet.

"Really…if we leave it any longer then we may never get round to all the crime spots before next Friday." Leo was stunned as Raph pulled him into a body binding hug.

"I didn't mean what I said, you know,"

"Yeah, you did – you just don't want to make me angry when I've consented to go with what you want to do." Leo pushed Raph off him roughly, leaving the hot-headed turtle feeling slightly put out.

"Guys, we're going to have to wait here until tonight. We leave at dawn tomorrow morning to find Casey and April – it's too risky to search in broad daylight. We're bound to be seen or reported as skulking figures if we have to go to any dodgy areas. Then we won't be of any use to them." Donnie pointed out.

"Ok," Mikey agreed. Raph nodded to show he'd understood the plan and Leo just remained silent but flashed a small grin at Donnie as a signal that he was in favour of the plan.

"Leo, are you mad at me?" Raph asked once Mikey and Donnie had gone to the kitchen to raid the fridge.

"Why would I be mad?" Leo asked smoothly.

"I don't really think you're a bad leader or a lousy excuse for a brother…I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said it."

"I know, Raph – but you're so unpredictable that even when you apologise a thousand times over I don't believe you. We always just get into the same fight no long afterwards. I know you never truly mean what you say but at the time you always mean it or you wouldn't say it. Just try to learn to control your temper for once, Raph, and then we wouldn't argue so much."

"I'm going to get something to eat," Raph growled, clearly struggling to keep his temper with Leo at that precise moment, as he headed off to the kitchen to assist Donnie and Mikey in raiding the fridge, freezer and various cupboards. Leo followed; he was very hungry and knew that April and Casey wouldn't mind them eating their food without their knowing – shell, they'd got used to it by now. He helped his brothers put together a plate of ham, cheese and ketchup sandwiches. There wasn't any junk food in the cupboard as April was trying to convince Casey that there were other foods in existence that tasted just as good, if not better, and that he needed to keep himself healthy if he was going to start up a hockey club at a local school to earn some cash. Mikey had sniggered when they'd been told while his brothers tried to keep straight faces for the sake of what little dignity Casey had managed to preserve over the years…and that wasn't very much whatsoever!

**A/N: -** And there you have it – the third part to Wreaking Revenge…hoped you liked it. As usual, I'm going to ask you to review for me, but I'm sure I don't need to ask, lol! ;-)


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N: -** Next instalment here and ready to go, but I'm now extremely busy withno free time. I might beable to update soon or I mightnot– I'm not going to ramble on this time so just relax and enjoy the chapter!

"So, where do we go from here?" Raph asked, looking round at everyone as they sat miserably in Casey and April's apartment that night. They had spent the afternoon eating, playing with Casey's deck of cards and sleeping. Normally they would've jumped at the chance for a quiet afternoon but today the circumstances that had led to the quiet afternoon were not particularly glamorous ones.

"We go and look for our friends," Donnie said in answer to Raph's question, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (which it probably was).

"I know that, you brainiac, but which crime spot do we go to from here?"

"The old Foot HQ…it's our next best bet for finding clues seeing as there's obviously none here," Leo replied to his brother and stood up, making his way over to the door of the apartment. Peering cautiously outside, he checked the coast was clear, "ok, everyone, there's no-one about – let's go!" he stepped out and checked the corridor briefly before beckoning his brothers. They crept silently along the corridors and down three flights of stairs until they were out of the block. Then they made a break for the nearest alleyway, where they sunk down and relaxed, breathing heavily. It was always risky going topside but at the moment they felt as though they had been hurled backwards to a couple of months before when they'd been fighting Shredder and nowhere had been safe. Mikey shuddered as he remembered the last battle with him – looking round at his brothers; he suspected that the events of that night also frequently pushed their way into their minds also.

"It hasn't changed a bit, has it?" Raph snarled as his eyes wandered over the shining white building that was the Foot HQ. There were hundreds of steps leading up to it and, to be safe, they thought they'd take them. If any enemies were there then they wouldn't expect the turtles to take the steps.

"Not a bit," echoed Donnie as they walked up the many steps to reach the top.

"Guys, we need to be quiet," hissed a nervous Leo. There was something wrong with this place. It was the same feeling he'd had back at the construction site when Mikey had found the pizza, "there could be traps anywhere…"

"Whatever," Raph waved a hand dismissively in his older brother's direction.

"It won't be whatever if we're killed, Raph!"

"We won't _be_ killed, Leo!"

"You can't say that for certain! There's no evidence that this place is safe!"

"THERE'S NO EVIDENCE THAT IT ISN'T!" screeched Raph, hastily clamping a hand over his mouth as soon as the words had left his mouth. There was a loud rumble, "oops…" Raph grimaced.

"Oops indeed, Raph – judging by the amount of noise that's making, and by the frequency of the waves, I'd say that a large solid structure is headed this way – possible some sort of----"

"Gigantic boulder?" Mikey interrupted.

"How…?"

"It's headed straight for us!"

"RUN!" yelled Leo. And for once all three of his brothers were happy to obey him!

"Crud, why does he always have to be right?" Raph muttered under his breath as he ran faster than he'd ever done before. Leo smirked as he heard the remark – that was another little event to use against Raph in the future. He knew he was maybe a little too paranoid at times, but in situations like this is was a real asset to the team.

"Damn, I don't think this thing's gonna stop chasing us!" Mikey screamed.

"Gee, ya think?" retorted Raph, breathless from running. The boulder was gaining speed while the turtles were losing it and they had about thirty seconds before it would get enough speed to squash them.

_30_

"Donnie! What do we do?" yelled Leo, panic beginning to show in his voice.

_29_

"I don't know! We need to find a way to stop it or get out of its way!"

_28_

"Dudes, what about over there?" Mikey pointed to a short drop over the side of the staircase.

_27_

"Mikey, by the time we reach it the boulder will have squashed us!" Leo called above the thunderous rumbling of the boulder.

_26_

"Unless…" Donnie began "…Raph, there's a booby trap there,"

_25_

"A booby trap? What the shell are you on about?"

_24_

"Tread on the trigger button as we run over it and the spikes should slow the boulder,"

_23_

"Got it!" Raph stamped on the loose stone which triggered the spikes.

_22_

The spikes shot up out of the ground and the boulder could be heard crashing its way through them as it continued its relentless pace.

_21_

"It's not slowing down!"

_20_

"We have to jump over the side now," Leo barked to his brothers, "we have more chance of surviving the drop than we do trying to outrun this boulder!"

_19_

"Ok, but the walls up the side are too high!"

_18_

"They get lower on the next flight of stairs…we have to hold out until then!"

_17_

"Crud, we'll never make it!"

_16_

The only sound the turtles could hear was the rumbling of the boulder and their own ragged breathing.

_15_

"One day, we will break into an HQ without all the traps!"

_14_

"I wouldn't count on it, Raphy," laughed Mikey nervously.

_13_

"DON'T call me Raphy!" spat Raph, his breaths coming in short and desperate gasps now, his legs turning to jelly.

_12_

"We're nearly there!"

_11_

"Ok, guys stop and climb over!" Leo shouted as he and his brothers skidded to a halt.

_10_

They began to climb over the wall.

_9_

The boulder was still getting faster.

_8_

Donnie and Mikey were on top the wall, helping up Leo and Raph.

_7_

They made it to the top of the wall and checked the position of the boulder.

_6_

Surveying the drop anxiously, they spared a quick glance at each other.

_5_

"Good luck, everyone," whispered Leo, letting himself drop.

_4_

"See ya all on the other side," Raph saluted, following his brother's lead as he launched himself off the wall.

_3_

"We should survive this…" Donnie performed some last minute calculations in his head, wondering if Leo and Raph had hit the ground yet.

_2_

"Man, I hate choices like this! Oh well – COWABUNGAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Mikey turned his 'Cowabunga' into a screech that would wake the dead as he jumped off the wall.

_1_

The boulder rolled past at an alarming speed, scraping against the wall they had been stood on several seconds before and shattering it without mercy.

Mikey cried out as he hit a canopy of trees and fell through the branches, eventually hitting the hard ground.

"Ow!" he moaned, dragging himself to his feet, "how the shell did I survive that?" He got shakily to his feet, clutching at the trunk of a tree for support as he tried to clear his vision. _Man, where the shell are the others – I'm in real trouble if I can't find them – what if they didn't get such a generous amount of trees where they landed…eugh, turtle pancakes! That's enough to put anyone off food, even me! _Mikey looked round at his surroundings, bewildered, _this tree, that tree, the other tree…they all look the same! Damn, how am I supposed to find the others if there's nothing spectacular to give away their position? Whoa, what was that?!_ He whipped round sharply, hearing a rustle in the bushes behind him, "Raph?" he asked nervously, "Is that you? If it is then this isn't funny! I'll tell Leo you were chasing me and threatening to pulverise me if you don't come out! I'll…I'll tell Sensei!" he threatened. But no-one emerged from the bushes. There was another rustle on the other side of him and several large, well-muscled men stepped out, sinister grins on their faces as if they had been plastered there.

"Hello, freak…word is you killed our brother…"

"Uh-oh…you just wait until my brothers arrive!"

"Would these be them?" the largest man clicked his fingers and one of his companions pulled on a set of ropes, dragging Leo, Donnie and Raph out of the bushes. They were gagged and unable to move, giving Mikey desperate looks.

"Let them go!" Mikey pleaded feebly.

"Why should we?"

"Because they didn't kill your brother…assuming your brother was Oroku Saki, of course."

"Remove their gags…which of you killed our brother?"

"It was me," Leo stepped forward bravely.

"And me," Mikey piped up, grinning broadly at Leo.

"And we had a part to play too, even if we didn't deal out the fatal blow…" Raph stated resolutely, determined not to let his brothers take the sole blame for Shredder's death – he wanted a little credit too!

"Yeah, we are certainly to blame for his death as much as they are. We may have been unable to fight him in the last battle but we wanted him dead and rotting in the pit of hell as much as any of my brothers." Donnie added, grinning innocently.

"Then you are all to die!"

"Wait! You cannot kill us without honour, surely – do you want to end up like your brother, without any wisdom, honour or bravery?" Leo dared to speak his thoughts aloud, knowing that this would be their only chance of survival.

"You are right, freak. There are four of us and four of you – one on one combat. I am Ronald," Ronald bowed, "and my brothers are Reginald, Roshiri and Ramakha."

"I'm Leonardo and my brothers are Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo." Leo introduced each of his brothers in turn and all four turtles bowed to their opponents.

"I challenge you, Michelangelo," Ronald stared at Mikey and drew out a long thin sword and a short staff of about arm's length.

"Meep…" was Mikey's only reply.

"Raphael, I wish to be your opponent," the vicious looking Ramakha strode forward. Raph's eyes lit with a deep anger and he growled menacingly as he drew his Sais. Ramakha drew the same weapons as Ronald had drawn and the two stood opposite each other.

"Leonardo, I believe," Roshiri reached Leo in three powerful strides; "I challenge you to a fight."

"Challenge accepted," Leo's mouth twisted into a strange smile, half mocking and half thoughtful.

"And that leaves me to kill you, Donatello," Reginald laughed harshly and he stood opposite Donnie with a longing look in his eyes. He was hungry to see the blood of someone else stain his weapons. He had to fight – it was part of him. And he had not had a serious fight for a long, long time. Sparring with his brothers had been fun but he was never given the chance to reveal his true colours. And now, against this turtle creature, he would show his true potential as a Ninjitsu master…

Splinter was meditating in the lair when he felt a tug in the pit of his stomach. His sons were in danger. Great danger: he could sense their situation and tried to connect his mind with one of them. He pushed his way past the barriers and into Raph's mind. He felt Raph's emotions: his anger at the capture of Casey and April, his jealousy of Leonardo's leadership, his annoyance with Michelangelo's constant joking around, his admiration and curiosity for Donatello's work, his love of all three of his brothers, and his self hate for seeing only their faults in his times of rage. His hunger for revenge was unquenched. Killing the Shredder had not been enough for him – he longed for something more. He wanted to turn back time and make Shredder scream for what was done to his brothers and his entire family. Splinter pushed his way through all the feelings and memories until he reached his son's sub-conscious.

_My son, listen to me,_

_Sensei?_

_Beware of these enemies – I fear they have back-up waiting._

_How do you know about----?_

_I have been focussed on your mind's energy in my meditation._

_Why didn't you speak to Leo?_

_Because I wished to speak to you – do not feel forced to act rashly, my son. Do this and you will be sorely defeated. And keep a look out for any enemies. Make your escape as soon as you can, regardless of whether you want to run or not._

_I understand, master Splinter._

_Good luck, my son. And do not allow your brothers to do anything stupid either._

Splinter sighed and came out of his meditation. His sons were in grave danger and there was nothing he could do. If he left the lair then he wouldn't reach them in time and if the lair was under attack then there would be no-one there to protect it. But if he stayed then he felt helpless. Suddenly, a hope dawned. He would send his strength to whichever of his sons needed it most when it came to the battle. He was almost certain no-one would be killed but he had to be ready, just in case.

**A/N: -** Please review for me and make me happy – that is all I am going to say!


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N: -** Hello everyone! This is the latest chapter of this story for you. Sorry if this chappie seems a little late – I meant to publish it last night but ended up being in a concert and then being banished to the safety of a friend's house while the rest of my family organized a secret family get-together for my birthday (15 today!!!!). Anyway, hope you like the chapter – make this extra special and review for me!

"Leo!" Raph yelled above the noise of battle. He had to tell Leo about what Splinter had said somehow as Leo and Roshiri were fighting dangerously near the bushes. So were Donnie and Reginald. Raph cursed inwardly and tried to stay central with Ramakha. Mikey seemed to be getting closer to the bushes as well and Raph couldn't warn them easily. He would have to try and reach their minds. But that was nearly impossible to do – it took a great deal of skill and Raph doubted he would be able to do it at the same time as fighting. He ducked another blow from Ramakha and made a return swipe with his Sais, skimming the man's stomach and drawing a little blood. Ramakha launched himself at Raph in pure fury and Raph jumped backwards to avoid being sliced in two. _Damn!_ He thought to himself, _I'm by the bushes and trees – the one area of this glade I was trying to avoid getting too close to!_

"Guys!" Leo barked, gaining his brothers' attention briefly, "we got company! It was a trap!"

"Crap on a crud!" Raph cursed, kicking Ramakha so he was sent flying backwards into the bushes on the other side of the glade. Four more men had stepped out, dressed all in black with silver gloves, boots and belts.

"I believe we forgot to introduce our cousins…" Ramakha said dryly as he staggered back into the glade, panting heavily as he tried to get his breath back.

"We need to leave here – now!" Leo shouted to his brothers. Even Raph didn't disagree and the reptilian brothers immediately focussed their attentions on getting out of the glade and into the safety of the forest where they could lose their enemies more quickly. The only danger then would be getting lost. But it was a risk they had to take, and Leo knew it. Deep down, he knew their choices left a lot to be desired and that there was a very slim chance of them making it out of the forest totally unscathed, especially considering the current circumstances they faced at that moment, in the forms of eight large men who were all directly related to Shredder.

"So, how are you planning on getting out of here, fearless leader?" Raph asked, sounding as sarcastic as always.

"We fight our way out to the edge of the glade. Then we make a run for it," Leo growled as Shredder's relatives closed in around them. Lunging forwards, the brothers began attacking the men without mercy, knocking them out cold and slowly inching towards the forest. Once all of Shredder's cousins were down, they decided they were close enough to make a run for it and lose the brothers of their dead enemy in the midst of the forest.

"You'll never escape the forest alive!" yelled Roshiri, beginning to run after them, but he was held back by Ronald.

"Let them go – you know how many traps are laid in the forest for unsuspecting snoops around this area. Our brother set them and vowed to kill anyone who refused to work with him after getting trapped in there. And I suggest that we follow the same system. After all, Marcie could be snooping around anywhere – and she would be a glorious catch. Her and her children corrupted our brother and we must avenge him by killing her as well as making sure the green lizards are eliminated."

"But we can't possibly know where Marcie is – she's too crafty – and I know I could never kill an innocent kid…" Reginald blushed furiously with the shame of admitting that he would not go that far to avenge his dead brother.

"Argh, you're hopeless – all of you!" Ramakha shrieked above the noise of his bickering brothers, "We have to kill everyone who ever wronged our brother. He protected us more than our own parents!"

"He killed our parents," protested Reginald stubbornly.

"Why would he kill those who had adopted him as their own? Remember when we found him, almost dead?" Ramakha laughed softly.

"I remember," Roshiri's hushed voice answered, "He refused to let us treat him but accepted the invitation to live with us. He taught us the way to fight and win without fail…"

"And without honour," Reginald once again cut in with a bad word to say about Shredder.

"Keep out of this, jerk…if you can't say anything nice about him then don't say anything at all!"

"But it's true!" Reginald shouted, receiving a hard punch to the stomach from Ronald.

"Anyway," Ronald said loudly, "I suppose you all also remember the day he brought Marcie home, claiming he loved her."

"Ha! That was a knife through our hearts! He was slipping away from us, slowly but surely!" Ramakha's voice was high-pitched, straining to control the anger he was feeling for Oroku Saki, "and she cheated on him!"

"She thought he was dead!"

"Rubbish! She cheated on him and then came back years later with a tonne of kids and expecting another!"

"And he raised them as his own," Roshiri smiled reminiscently.

"Look at us, standing here talking…we should be out there looking for the lizards!"

"Uh, I think you'll find they're turtles," Reginald interrupted his brother again and received an icy glare.

"Lizards, turtles, all the same – big green and ugly!" Ronald's mouth curved into a twisted smile and the four of them ran into the forest, leaving their unconscious cousins behind.

"You think we lost them?" Mikey gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

"I don't know, but we'd better keep running." Donnie replied, leaning against a tree and panting just as heavily as his brothers.

"Well, whatever's happened, we seem to have lost Raph!" Leo looked round anxiously, not seeing Raph anywhere.

"Oh no…what do we do now?"

"I'll go back and find him," Leo sighed.

"Not without us, you don't – remember what happened last time you ran off to find Raph?"

"Yeah, but the chances of Marcie being anywhere near here are small."

"Small, yes, but still possible," Donnie resolutely started walking back the way they'd come, with Mikey and Leo behind him.

"Man, I wish Raph wouldn't keep getting himself into trouble!" Mikey exclaimed as they searched back through the trees for their missing brother, "What do you think has happened to him?"

"He probably just got distracted, that's all," Donnie replied, inspecting a tree, "Guys, I think we're going the wrong way…"

"What?" Mikey looked shocked.

"These aren't the same species of tree we saw earlier – and this one is booby-trapped. If we'd come this way before then we would've fallen into the trap," Donnie poked at a carpet of leaves with his Bo and they collapsed to reveal a pit full of razor sharp spikes, proving his point.

"Uh-oh…"

"Don't worry, Mikey, we'll just head back again."

"Not that…Leo's gone too…"

"What?!" Donnie whirled round, looking for his older brother, "Oh, damn, now we're in trouble. We're all split up. Come on, Mikey – you and I have got to stick together."

"Uh, Donnie?" Mikey said nervously.

"What?"

"Which way do we go?"

"The opposite way to the pit…uh…" Donnie looked around them but the pit seemed to have extended and formed a circle around them, too wide to jump and with no trees nearby that they could climb and swing onto.

"What do we do now?" whimpered Mikey, rushing to the middle of the circle of land they were stood on.

"We stay quiet while I try to figure a way out of this mess. I hope Leo and Raph have fared better.

"Great," muttered Raph, folding his arms grumpily, "why does this seem familiar? Hanging upside down after walking directly into a trap…" he sighed in frustration as he tried to swing up onto the tree branch so he could haul himself up onto it and free himself so he could climb down and find his brothers. Suddenly, he heard a rustle in the bushes and tried to twist his body round so he could see where it was coming from, "uh…Leo? Mikey? Donnie? Is that you guys? 'Cause if it is, this ain't funny!"

"Ah-ha! Found you – now, where are your brothers?" Ramakha stepped out of the shadows in the bushes.

"I could ask you the same question," Raph snarled at the man he had fought against in the challenge in the glade.

"But what good would that do either of us – you're not exactly in a position to fight us. However, if I knew where _your_ brothers were then I could find them and kill them."

"On your own? I don't think so!" Raph snorted. Ramakha growled and swiped at the rope holding Raph up, causing the turtle to fall and land on the ground in an awkward position.

"You should not anger me, lizard, or you will find yourself in several places at once…literally!"

"You wish…" Raph groaned as he got unsteadily to his feet, only to find a sword held to his throat.

"You will accompany me to the HQ and there we will squeeze every last bit of resistance out of you until you feel ready to talk. Then we will kill you and send you bit by bit to your brothers."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it would hardly be fair for you not to know what is going on…" Ramakha laughed, using the rope to tie Raph's hands together, as his feet were already bound, and drag him along the forest floor, disabling any traps as he went.


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N: -** No waffling from me this time, you lucky readers! Enjoy and review! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"Mikey? Donnie?" Leo realised he'd been separated from the others. They must've gone the wrong way or something. Now he was faced with a dilemma: he could either go and find Mikey and Donnie and then find Raph or he could go and find Raph and then find Mike and Donnie. _Damn these tough choices,_ he thought, bewildered. He stood and pondered his options for a few moments before he heard movement nearby, "Who's there? Show yourself!" he drew his Katana and stood ready to fight if he needed to.

"You know, I should kill you…it would please my brothers and redeem me for my insults of Oroku Saki…" one of the brothers stepped out from the darkness.

"You're Reginald, right?" Leo inquired, trying desperately to keep calm.

"Yes, and I know you to be Leonardo. My brother – well, my adopted brother – mentioned you when he believed you and your brothers to be dead. And I may have played a part in the night that almost had you killed."

"You did? I didn't see you at any of the battles," Leo thought carefully through the list of battles they had fought in against the Shredder but could remember nothing of Reginald being there.

"Me and my brothers were all there that night on the rooftops of the city. You made rather a dramatic entrance when we returned you to your friends."

"I don't recognise your weapons…"

"You wouldn't – we leave our other weapons at HQ. They bring back too many painful memories,"

"Wait a moment…" Leo looked at Reginald in a new light, "You and your brothers are the Foot Elite!"

"Wondered when you'd solve it. There are eight of us – me, my brothers and my cousins. We were all the Foot Elite but Oroku Saki only really ever used me and my brothers as our cousins were only training to be the Elite. They got their official uniforms the night before Oroku Saki died."

"Why work for your own brother? What reward was there?"

"He paid us well, never allowing for us to slip into debt or to fall out of high society. He may have had no honour and have been a ruthless killer but he was still generous with money…even if he did kill my parents after they'd taken him in. We were little more than beggars back then – why am I even bothering to tell you this?" Reginald raised his sword and his staff.

"Because you are the only one of your brothers with honour?" Leo ventured, hoping to break through to Reginald.

"What? You think I have honour?"

"Well, do you?"

"I like to think so," sighed Reginald, "I long to do something for the world; to right all the wrongs I committed as an Elite. And I shall start by giving you my allegiance."

"I don't want you on the same side as me."

"But----"

"No buts, I'm sorry – but you can do one thing for me,"

"What would that be, turtle?" scowled Reginald.

"I want you to help me find my brothers and free them from any traps they have fallen into. Or if you can't do that then at least lure your brothers away from us."

"You denied my allegiance – why should I do anything for you?"

"If you were truly honourable then you would. Alternatively, you could turn yourself in for all the trouble you've caused and admit to being part of the crime wave that swept New York while the Shredder was alive."

"I am sorry that we could not have been on the same side, Leonardo. But if that is truly not what you want then I cannot force it upon you. However, now I will be forced to kill you."

"And lose what little honour you have?" Leo hissed venomously.

"Honour? What is honour if you cannot avenge your dead brother? What would you do if one of your brothers was killed – would you just knock the killer out and turn him into the authorities or would you take the chance to kill the killer while he was there in front of you?" Reginald snapped harshly, lurching forward and aiming to slice Leo's throat but his attack was blocked and allowed Leo to get an attack of his own in. He knocked Reginald out and began running back to where they had first realised Raph was missing.

When he reached the small clearing, he heard Mikey's voice not far off. _Man, he is so loud!_ Leo laughed softly to himself as he followed the noise and reached the pit surrounding his two youngest brothers.

"Leo!" Mikey cried joyfully, "we were hoping you'd find us before Shredder's rellies did!"

"I think I can get us out of here with a little help from Leo," Donnie muttered, thinking through a plan, "Leo, can you climb that tree over there and crawl out along the branch so your directly above the pit, preferably without falling in…"

"I'll try, Donnie," Leo looked apprehensive as he began climbing up the tree Donnie had pointed to. He was lucky as there were a lot of foot-holds and he was soon at the start of a thick branch. He edged out until he was above the pit and as close to his brothers as he could get.

"Ok, great," Donnie grinned, "now, catch my Bo staff and then hold onto it really tightly. I'll use Mikey's Nunchuks as a step-up and you can pull me up."

"Got it," Leo nodded. He did as Donnie had said and soon Donnie was sat on the branch with him.

"Mikey, you need to hook your Nunchuks over my Bo and we'll pull you up until we can either grab you or you can get hold of the branch."

"Okey-dokey," Mikey winked at his brothers, following their instructions. Donnie used the Bo to raise him higher and higher until he grabbed hold of Leo's hand. The shuffled back along the branch and climbed back down the tree as quickly as they dared under the circumstances, with a moat of razor sharp spikes below them ready to skewer them and turn them into turtle kebabs as soon as they lost their grip. As soon as they were all safe, Mikey dropped to the ground and began kissing it in his happiness.

"Uh, Mikey? You're kissing the ground…" Donnie pointed out nervously.

"What? Oh – EW! Yuck! Peh!" Mikey jumped around, spitting the mud and dry leaves from his mouth as quickly as he could.

"Mikey, quit mucking around," said Leo seriously.

"Dude, you spoilt the moment!"

"What moment?! Sorry, Mikey – it's just, I found out something about Shredder's relatives…" sighed Leo.

"What? What did you find out?"

"They've been at every battle we've had with the Shredder since that Christmas time…they were the Foot Elite. Well, his brothers were the Foot Elite and his cousins were training to be the Foot Elite…and I found out that Shredder isn't directly related to them. He was adopted into their family when they found him half dead. Apparently, he wouldn't let them treat him but he accepted their offer of hospitality and he gladly joined the family."

"Who told you this?"

"Reginald – then he asked to join our side."

"What did you say?"

"I said no…what do you take me for, Don?"

"Just checking. I didn't want to find out that I'd said something to him and then find out you'd said the opposite."

"Excuse me?" Leo frowned.

"Reginald paid us a little visit as well. He said he wanted to join us and he wanted our allegiance, and he said he'd help us over the pit if we agreed. I told him no…"

"And I think you're both crazy! What if he really is on our side?"

"Not likely, Mikey. Anyway, can we please concentrate on finding Raphael for the moment?" Leo began walking into the woods.

"Leo, you're not going the way we came…"

"I know – but that seems to get us nowhere and there's a load of booby-traps on the main routes…so I think we should brave the forest. That way we can climb trees to get look-outs and we have a better chance of hiding."

"Ah, I see your point! Well then, let's go!" Donnie followed his older brother into the woods.

"This reminds me of one of those Jungle movies where the explorers go exploring and then get lost and then a mysterious spirit splits them up and kills them one by one, leaving a trail of body parts through the woods to lead the others to it. When he runs out of body parts he kills someone else…hmm…" Mikey muttered to himself, before stopping abruptly and realising that his brothers had gone, "Uh-oh…Donnie? Leo? Wait for me!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"How about now?"

"You just asked that ten seconds ago! I told you where we're going and how to tell when we're getting close so shut up and listen for anything suspicious!" Leo snapped at Mikey. He had been asking increasingly annoying amounts of questions for the past half an hour and it was beginning to drive Leo and Donnie ever so slightly mad!

"Aw, but I wanna be there now!" Mikey complained.

"Look, Mikey," Donnie said gently, sensing that Leo was really going to blow in a minute, "we know you're fed-up but can you please make some sort of an effort to stay quiet – just for a few minutes?"

"Ok, Don," sighed the downtrodden Michelangelo, trying to distract himself by thinking of a way to pull some sort of prank on his oldest brother when they got back to the lair.

"We're here!" Leo gasped, looking up at the wall from which they had jumped off not too long ago.

"Finally!"

"So, how're we going to scale that thing, Leo?"

"I was hoping you would have a suggestion, Donnie. Mechanical work isn't my specialty," Leo grinned sheepishly, remembering the time he'd tried to fix Mikey's game guy after Raph had thrown it at a wall. However, he had found out afterwards that it could've been easily fixed by Donnie or Splinter but not after it had been tampered with by him!

"Yeah, dude – it took me ages to find a new game guy!" Mikey said, mock anger lining his voice but with a playful smile on his face.

"I have one idea…" Donnie said reluctantly.

"Why so hesitant, Don – it's gotta be better than anything I could come up with!" Mikey chuckled.

"It's just – it's a little – well, a little dangerous…"

"Donnie, whatever we decided to do is going to be dangerous! So how dangerous can this be compared to everything else we're doing?"

"Very."

"What?" Leo whipped round, feeling a little put-out with Donnie's answer.

"Well, it's a sort of suicide if we fail." Donnie waited for the impact of the blow he would receive from Leo saying that getting killed was not an option – but it never came.

"We have to risk it," was Leo's only answer, uttered so softly that Donnie could barely hear him, let alone take in what was being said.

"O…k…we need to climb up the trees as far as we can and get to where that ledge is jutting out. Do you see the ledge?"

"Yeah,"

"Yup,"

"Good, then-----"

"There's only room for one on that ledge," Leo cut in apprehensively.

"I know, and this is where it gets dangerous. One of us, probably you Leo, will climb onto the ledge and try and find some way to get up to the top using whatever footholds are available. Then we'll follow."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Let me finish, Mikey – there's a ledge visible quite close to the top but it will only hold out for a couple of seconds once Leo steps on it. This means that Leo can get to the top but will have to find something to wrap his legs around while he leans over and pulls us up." Donnie waited for the approval of disapproval of the plan, but complete silence greeted the end of his plan. Eventually, Leo spoke as softly as he had done a few minutes before.

"We'll do it, Donnie. The only other way to get in would be round the front and up the stairs but we'd be risking open attacks and it would be near impossible to get past all the booby-traps safely."

"Aw, man, don't I get a say in this? I say we make a plan that doesn't involve risking our shells." Mikey shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking up at the wall fearfully.

"Sorry, Mikey, but we need to get Raph out as soon as possible."

"How do we even know he's in there?"

"Because if he wasn't then we would've heard him from miles off, being as loud as he is…" Leo trailed off, a smile threatening to curve his lips into a sarcastic smile.

"Let's go!" Donnie exclaimed, just about covering up the fear that had gripped him. Mikey did have a point – what if Raph wasn't in the Headquarters? What would happen then? Would they be captured and killed.

"What ya thinking about, Donnie?" Mikey asked brightly.

"I'm just thinking that maybe one of us should stay here in case Raph shows up."

"That's too risky…but if you want to stay then I can't stop you." Leo sighed. Donnie froze – since when did Leo give them an option for a risky move where one would be on their own. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Uh, Leo, are you feeling ok?"

"I'm fine, Don, but I know that either way we're risking dying so it's a case of which option you feel is more dangerous. If you want to stay here then that's your choice." Leo looked away from Donnie and the purple clad turtle knew that his brother was looking away to hide his emotion. _What am I thinking?_ Donnie thought, realising what he'd been suggesting, _weird what pressure does to you…_

"I'm coming – I don't know what I was thinking," said Donnie quietly.

"Then let's get moving." Leo ordered, climbing up the tree to get to the higher footholds on the wall. His two brothers watched from the ground, Mikey biting his nails nervously and Donnie flinching every so often and making a few calculations about the height of the wall, reassuring himself that the plan was perfectly sound.

"Donnie! I'm done, what next?" Leo called from the top of the wall.

"Mikey will climb up to you. You help him up onto the wall, but make sure you've got a secure foothold so you don't fall."

"Ok, and then you'll climb up, right?"

"Right! Now, you next Mikey," Donnie nudged his brother.

"No problemo, Donatello," Mikey stood to attention and saluted his brainiest brother. He climbed up the tree and leapt across to the wall, confidently grabbing hold of the hand holds and steadying himself. Edging his way slowly and carefully up the wall, he was almost able to reach Leo's outstretched hands. He took one more step and felt the wall below him give way. He managed to grab hold of Leo just as the ledge totally vanished from beneath his feet, "Phew!" he exclaimed, "thanks, dude,"

"Mikey, let's get you up here," Leo managed, straining under of the weight of his youngest brother. He heaved Mikey up onto the wall and then sat back, breathing heavily and rubbing his feet, which had been hooked around a part of the collapsed wall.

"We'd better tell Donnie that we're ready for him," Mikey said, leaning over the edge, "Donnie, we're----" Mikey paused, "uh, Leo? Donnie's gone…"

"WHAT?!" Leo jumped over and looked over the edge of the wall, "great, now what?" he sighed when he realised that Donnie really was totally gone.

"I guess we gotta find the old Foot HQ, right?"

"Yeah,"

"You know where we're going?"

"Yeah,"

"What's up?"

"Apart from the fact that two of our brothers have totally disappeared without trace? I'm not sure that this plan is going to work. I think we're being led to believe something other than the truth…"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Don't worry – I'm probably making something out of nothing." Leo shook his head and began weaving in and out of the collapsed pieces of wall and moving slowly up the path with Mikey directly behind him.

"How far is it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Before we get there?"

"Oh…well, I don't think it will be too far. A couple of hundred steps more yet though." Leo answered his little brother, glancing round at him. Mikey had noticed Leo's eyes flicking back to him more than was normal. _Guess he's unnerved by Donnie and Raph disappearing…_ he thought.

"Finally…" Mikey gasped as they reached the top of all the stairs at last. They had been fortunate enough not to encounter any more traps and were extremely thankful for it, even if nothing else seemed to be going their way.

"It's changed," was Leo's only comment. The building had, indeed, changed dramatically. It now had a shining new coat of white paint and a new insignia painted on it. It was the red Foot insignia but with a black serpent coiled round it, which had gleaming gold fangs and sapphire eyes.

"It's certainly got creepier, that's for sure,"

"We need to be careful from here on in, Mikey. We need to stick together and make sure that neither of us gets taken."

"You got it, Leo,"

"Let's get this over with…"


	7. Chapter Seven

**A/N: -** And here is the seventh instalment. As always, thank you to all my loyal reviewers who are sticking with this story and reading every chapter. I would also like to say hi to everyone who is reading this and, for whatever reason, not reviewing and I encourage them to review! Anyway, this chapter explains a little more about Ramakha, Roshiri, Reginald and Ronald – please let me know what you think of these four – and also gives you an idea of what will happen next time…enjoy…

"Will ya at least tell me which of my brothers you got?" Raph snarled desperately. He'd heard the celebrations of Shredder's brothers and was getting madder by the minute, knowing that they had captured another of his brothers and yet not knowing which one.

"Why should we?" hissed Ramakha.

"Because if you even think about killing any of them then not only do I want to know who it is you're killing but I'd kinda like to say goodbye."

"We ain't killing anyone…yet…but we do want to know why you were snooping around here when you know Shredder's dead…"

"Because we want Marcie dead as well – she has betrayed us when we trusted her. She led your brother to us. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have found us!"

"And why should I believe you?" Ramakha's eyes were dull and suspicious.

"Think about it – if you helped us kill Marcie then both our families would have their revenge."

"But you killed my brother…how can we help you when you were responsible for the death of a family member?"

"The same way I can offer our allegiance, even though you nearly killed my brothers multiple times…" Raph said softly, sounding sober and burdened. Never before had he bargained with an enemy, but he wasn't prepared to let them kill his brothers. They'd all put those days behind them, "Look, put it this way; if you kill my brothers then I kill you…and I won't hesitate you do it, believe me,"

"We shall see – I will speak with your brothers and then I shall speak with mine before we determine a further course of action."

"RAMAKHA! WE GOT THE OTHER TWO!" Roshiri's excited voice called.

"BRING THEM IN HERE!" Ramakha yelled back. Roshiri, Reginald and Ronald appeared, dragging Leo and Mikey along between them. Mikey seemed to be out cold while Leo was struggling to break free.

"Hurt them and you're dead," growled Raph to Ramakha.

"Let the leader up – but lock the other one away with the purple-clad one. Then I want Roshiri to stay here while Ronald and Reginald go and guard the others."

"Why can't we stay?"

"This is for the two eldest of each clan to decide. We will keep the other two turtles as a sort of…deposit…if these freaks keep their art of whatever deal we arrange then we will return their brothers to them. However, if they do not comply then we cannot promise the safety and lives of your precious brothers." Ramakha finished, watching as Ronald and Reginald dragged Mikey off and Roshiri stepped forward to stand with the others.

"What have you got us into, Raph?" sighed Leo under his breath as Raph's hands and feet were untied and he was allowed to go and stand next to his older brother.

"You are extraordinary creatures…" Ramakha trailed off, "but I feel you do not know the full story regarding our origin and where we were through all the time you fought the Shredder."

"I know you were the Foot Elite, if that's what you mean," Leo's voice shook.

"Then, if you know about us, maybe you should tell us your story – it may help us to come to an arrangement a little easier. It may also help us to understand why you hated our brother so." Roshiri gazed at Raph and Leo, who both seemed to shift uncomfortably at the mention of the past.

"We want to know what exactly happened at the final battle where our brother died…" Ramakha added quickly. Raph looked quickly at his older brother, who had sub-consciously raised his hand to his left shoulder, where the scar from Shredder's katana blade remained. There was also a small scar where the bullet had been shot into his side. Raph, too, still bore the scar of the gunshot wound to his leg, and he knew that telling the whole story would be difficult, for both him and Leo.

"You two will stay here under our guard until our brothers are finished," Reginald spat as Mikey was thrown roughly into the cage by Ronald to join Donnie, who was sat miserably in the corner, "so don't try anything funny."

"Or what?" Mikey piped up, rubbing his arm where he'd landed on it.

"Or I can't guarantee the lives of you and your brothers will be spared…" Ronald snarled menacingly.

"Yeah, um, anyway, we'll just shut up now…"

"_We?_" Donnie hissed wearily, "you're the one digging us deeper into this mess, Mikey, not me,"

"Yeah, well I'll shut up then."

"Good."

"Hey!"

Raph and Leo between them managed to relate the entire story as it was to Shredder's brothers, leaving no little detail, however small, unsaid. Once they had finished, Leo bowed his head and Raph held his breath, waiting for the response. Roshiri and Ramakha let the honesty of the turtles' story sink in. It had been told truthfully and no lie had been conjured in the process.

"You tell the truth?" Ramakha asked. It was an obvious question that easily broke the silence.

"Every word was honest," Leo replied, voice slightly hoarse from all the talking they'd done.

"And you can ask our brothers if you don't believe us," Raph added.

"I do not think that will be necessary. However, we need some time to think about this…"

"You can't just make us talk! We want to know what part you played in Shredder's plan to dominate the city. And I also want to know why you do not seem to feel any guilt about all the times you've nearly killed us!" Raph was beginning to raise his voice. He started to stand up but was pulled back down into his seat by Leo, who was looking a little pale.

"Why should they feel guilty?" he sighed, "they were merely trying to help their brother fight his way into success. Besides, they have no warmth in their hearts if they cannot see the scars they have inflicted on us, both physical and mental. Therefore it is impossible for them to feel any remorse."

"Leo…"

"I'm going to get Mikey and Donnie and we will discuss this as families. We cannot make a sensible and rational decision regarding this matter without their opinions." Leo stood and left the room. To Raph's surprise, neither Ramakha nor Roshiri dared to follow the blue-clad turtle.

Returning a few minutes later, Leo re-entered the room flanked by Donnie, Mikey, Reginald and Ronald.

"As families we will discuss this…then we decide what is to be done," Roshiri announced.

"Agreed," the four turtles chorused once they had all taken a seat opposite the four human brothers.

"I'll make you an offer," Ramakha said softly, looking thoughtful and less vicious than he usually did, "you help us kill Marcie _and_ her children and then we will spare your lives."

"Her children?" Mikey's face froze, "you can't kill a few young children that have simply been brainwashed by their evil and vindictive parents…"

"Then you help us kill Marcie and send her kids to an orphanage or something. After that, we become enemies again and we will avenge the death of our brother."

"Can we have a little while to think about this?" Leo asked.

"If you're willing to think about it in a cell…"

"So, what do we do?" Raph growled, "If we help him kill Marcie and her kids then we'll be safe but we'll have the deaths of the kids on our consciences."

"But if we take the other option then our lives are forfeit," Donnie stressed the point.

"How about we ask our fearless leader?" Raph smirked, "Whaddaya think, Leonardo?"

"I think we should do the honourable thing."

"Which is?" urged Mikey.

"We gamble our lives and let Marcie's children live."

"How did I know you were gonna say that?" Raph muttered to himself. Coming down the stairs to the cell door was a murmur of voices. The four human brothers shortly appeared in front of the turtles.

"Have you made your choice?" Roshiri asked solemnly.

"Yes," Leo stepped forward, "we will help you kill Marcie – but after that our lives will be forfeit."

"You have honour, I'll give you that – but you are fools," Reginald scoffed, earning a sharp whack from Ronald.

"You understand that we will be enemies from the moment the breath leaves her wretched body?"

"We understand…now, let us out of this dingy cell!"

"First we must swear an oath…"

"An oath? What for?" Raph questioned impatiently.

"To bind our agreement; after the oath is made, anyone who breaks it will be killed. Put your hands in the middle," Roshiri instructed. Everyone put one hand in the middle of the circle, half of which was inside the cell, and Roshiri continued, "We must all swear to be allied until the last breath is released from Marcie and her body is condemned to hell. After that, we shall be as we were before; bitter enemies,"

"I swear," everyone chorused. This was followed by a long silence, broken only by the turn of the rusty key in the cell door as the turtles were released.

"What's the plan again?" Mikey asked for the fifth time in half an hour. They were on their way to where they believed Marcie's headquarters to be but the four human brothers had not accompanied them. They would go by a different route so that they could get into Marcie's HQ without being detected; the turtles were the distraction.

"We find Marcie – we kill Marcie. We throw the kids in some orphanage somewhere and have done with them." Raph summarised, eyes gleaming with almost a hint of madness in them.

"Correction to make to that," Leo interjected, "we find Marcie's hideout, catch the kids while Roshiri and the others get Marcie. We take the kids to an orphanage and then meet back at the old Foot HQ to kill Marcie. We then have thirty seconds to get out before they turn all the traps back on and chase after us again."

"Nothing's ever simple, is it?"

"I'm afraid not – are we almost there, Don?"

"Nearly – the building is just up ahead and down a small lane on the right."

"I still don't get it…once again we're involved in something that we shouldn't have to be involved in. I don't understand why we're the ones who are being hunted when we got rid of the most dishonourable man on the planet!"

"Uh…" Mikey contemplated Raph's comment, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as it always tended to do when he was in deep thought.

"We're involved because we didn't get a choice in the matter. This isn't something we can escape, Raph. We've got a gory history with the Shredder and, however dishonourable he was, his family are entitled to the right to avenge his death. What we think doesn't matter when a family is involved."

"I don't care!"

"Well, you should!"

"Why should I, Leo? Why should I care if Marcie is out to kill Ramakha and his brothers? Why is that our problem? Looking back on it, I wish we'd said no to their offer of allegiance…it's putting to much strain on us."

"Too much strain? No, Raph – _you_ are the one putting strain on this family with your constant need to contradict _me_!" Leo spun round to face his brother. The two glared daggers at each other while Mikey and Don shifted uncomfortably.

"Guys, we need to keep moving or the plan will go wrong!" Donnie whispered to them urgently.

"If we make it out of all this alive, can we get some pizza on the way home?" Mikey suddenly piped up.

"Sure, Mikey, if we aren't dead or busy trying to escape a bunch of madmen who double up as Foot Elite!" Raph mumbled sarcastically.

"I said _if_ we made it out of this alive," whined Mikey, "Aw, why is it always me?"

"Because you're the one always causing trouble, that's why!" retorted Raph venomously.

"There was no need for that," pointed out Leo, laying a hand firmly on Raph's shoulder once more.

"Don't touch me, Leo!" Raph growled, shrugging off his elder brother's hand.

"Let's go," Leo said stonily, turning back to the road again. They had come to a right-hand turning. They walked a little way down the lane before they came to a small cottage.

"Do you think this is it?"

"Don't be stupid, Mikey, this is a cottage!" Donnie scoffed. The turtles continued along the lane but there were no other buildings. Turning back, they trudged back to the cottage. Creeping up to it and peering in through the window, Donnie gasped.

"What is it?"

"It's Marcie's lair – full of high tech gadgets and gizmos – we found it!"

"Now all we have to do is wait for the signal…" Leo trailed off, looking around for any sign of the human brothers.

"What's the signal?"

"When a shruiken lands between my katana," Leo replied, laying his katana out so they were parallel to each other before leaning back against the wall. If the plan worked then they would have one less enemy to worry about. However, they would still have Shredder's brothers and cousins to deal with – although they were confident that they would be able to successfully beat them in any battles they fought in.

"I hope this works…" Raph sighed, looking slightly afraid but trying not to show it to his brothers. If Leo saw that he was afraid then he'd never hear the end of it; so he improvised by staring down at the floor.

"We all hope it works, Raph," responded Leo quietly, seeing his brother's downcast gaze and knowing deep down that it was Raph's way of dealing with his fear. They had all known it would be risky from the start. Nobody quite knew exactly what Marcie would have in store for them. She could have an army, robots, poison, deadly assassins – anything! But they would just have to be patient until the signal came. Suddenly, a shruiken landed between Leonardo's katana, "and action," he smiled to himself.


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N: -** I apologise for the delays between chapters but, with my rubbish English internet connections, it is becoming ever more difficult to connect each time! Anyway, this is the next chapter…and I am apologising in advance! Please do not flame me for what I am about to do…I swear you will regret it later. Um, enjoy as much as you can.

"So, what happens next, bro?" Raph asked, licking his lips hungrily, looking forward to the fight.

"We attack…" Leo's mouth twisted into an almost sinister smile. He stood up and motioned for each of his brothers to take a different entrance; whether a window, door or even just a hole in a wall or in the roof. Their job was to get in and get the children out as quickly as possible.

"On three?" Donnie suggested.

"For best dramatic impact," winked Mikey.

"One, two ----- THREE!" Donnie yelled the last number and the four turtles leapt into Marcie's lair. They all drew their weapons but suddenly froze, looking round in bewilderment.

"Why is no-one here?" whispered Mikey.

"It's a trap…" Leo said urgently, "Stay alert and be ready for anything…"

"You got it, Leonardo," hissed Raph, sweeping into a low sarcastic bow.

"Raph, quit-----" Leo started, but was cut short. The techno gadgets lining the room suddenly burst into life and lights were flashing, and a trapdoor was opening, right underneath the turtles. Ramakha and the other three human brothers were nowhere to be seen and the turtles fell through the trapdoor, landing with a 'thud' in a cage about ten feet below, lined with straw.

"You think they're ok?" Reginald asked worriedly as they waited for the signal from Leonardo to say that he and his brothers had got in safely.

"I don't know…" Ramakha paused.

"That's it – I'm going in!" Ronald growled, jumping down from his hiding place and running into the cottage.

"RONALD!" Roshiri shouted angrily after him.

"Holy---" Ronald just about had time to curse before a dart pierced his shoulder, causing him to sway on the spot for a moment and then drop to the floor, limp as a boned fish.

"What do you want from us, Marcie?"

"I want nothing from you…what I want to do to you is another matter entirely…"

"And what do you want to do to us?"

"Kill you – tell me, Michelangelo, which of you four I should kill first. Do I kill you in order of your level of involvement with the Shredder's death, or do I kill you in the order you were originally shot by the Shredder?"

"That would mean I wouldn't die! Ha!" Mikey laughed, then realising what he'd said, "oops…"

"Then I shall go with the first option. Michelangelo, for your insolence you will go first, regardless of the fact you had an equal part in the death of my love. After you shall be Leonardo…then I think I shall kill Donatello…let's see if we can get Raphael to shed a few tears for his brothers."

"Leave my emotions out of this, you evil witch," snarled Raph, more to himself that anyone else. He didn't cry often and he didn't want to be reminded of the times when he did.

"Michelangelo – come forward."

"I would, but I'm kinda locked in this cage," Mikey quipped, sticking his tongue out at her and then ducking behind a furious Raph. Marcie took a deep breath, barely controlling her frustration, and unlocked the cage, pulling Mikey out roughly and snatching his Nunchuks before he had time to react. She then pulled out a long blade; Shredder's blade.

"Uh, isn't that…I mean wasn't that…Shredder's blade?"

"Yes it is – my, my, you are feeling very observant today aren't you, young Michelangelo. Is it not sad to think that your life should end when you are but a teenager?" Marcie snickered, "or would you rather live, knowing you were watching the deaths of your brothers?"

"Listen, Marcie, I am not scared of you. Do you understand me? I think you are a fake; a wannabe who doesn't actually have any feelings or care for anyone. You use your own innocent kids, placing them in harm's way just to get revenge for someone who didn't even love you!" Mikey was now trembling with raw fury, something that never appeared very often in his character, "and if you're killing my brothers then you'll kill me as well – we were born a team and we'll die a team!"

"How noble of you," Marcie yawned, "but now I will just kill you and get it over with – you bore me with your honourable ramblings and pointless virtues and smart remarks."

"Try it…" Mikey dared, his eyes glinting adventurously. Marcie let out a strangled battle cry and, raising her sword, jumped at Mikey, who leapt onto the top of the cage holding his brothers captive. Marcie also jumped up and took a swipe at him. He ducked and the blade Marcie was wielding swung round clumsily. Mikey dived off the cage towards his discarded Nunchuks and grabbed them hastily, blocking Marcie's blade just as it was about to make contact with his head. He took a moment to compose himself before sweeping his left foot underneath Marcie, tripping her over and sending her blade spinning across the floor. Taking his chance while Marcie was down, Mikey ran towards the cage and bashed the door open, freeing his brothers, but turning just in time to see the hilt of Marcie's blade coming towards his head at an alarming speed. He didn't move in time and was knocked out cold. Raph roared and rushed at the woman responsible for hurting his youngest brother, catching her off guard with a kick and then slinging Mikey over his shoulder.

"We gotta get out of here NOW, before she comes round!"

"Raph's right," Leo agreed, "let's go!"

Reginald lifted the limp form of his brother into a fireman's carry and ran back to his hiding place as quickly as he could. Ramakha and Roshiri were checking for any back entrances.

"Hey, there's a trapdoor here!" Roshiri called to his brother. They stood above the door, examining it and were almost flung backwards as it swung open to reveal a staircase, three very agitated turtles and one very unconscious one!

"What happened?" Ramakha asked Leo hurriedly as they ran for cover from the darts that were firing from a hidden place, "you never gave us the signal!"

"We were dropped through a trapdoor and into a cage. Mikey fought Marcie as she tried to kill him and he got us out. Marcie hit him with the hilt of her sword and knocked him unconscious. Raph knocked her out and we made a break for it. We couldn't stay there – it was too dangerous."

"We understand – Ronald was struck down by a dart of some sort. I think it was a tranquilliser. We need to get back to Headquarters before they try to follow us. Leonardo – you, Donatello and Roshiri will go by a different route and keep any scouts from following us."

"Right," Leo nodded, running off with Donnie and Roshiri. Several scouts leapt out of Marcie's lair and followed them, not even seeing Ramakha, Raph, Reginald, Ronald and Mikey.

"So, what now?" Roshiri hissed to his two turtle companions.

"We keep running," replied Leo as they ran from Marcie's scouts.

"For how long?"

"Until we outrun them," Donnie answered, seeing that Leo was too busy keeping his temper in check.

"Got it, but I think they're gaining on us. Outrunning them will be difficult," Roshiri frowned, glancing quickly behind them.

"Why's that?"

"Because they have a vehicle and are getting closer!"

"Oh shell…RUN!" barked the blue-clad turtle. Roshiri and Donnie instantly obeyed the order and sped up as much as they could before feeling like they were going to collapse.

"I don't know how long we'll be able to keep this up, Leo," Donnie panted as they sprinted for their lives.

"We have to find an alleyway where there is a way out…" Roshiri said between breaths.

"Over there!"

"Let's go," Leo ordered, following where Donnie was pointing to, "run straight forward and turn last minute; catch them off-guard."

The three companions ran, faster and faster, turning sharply into the alleyway when they reached it. The vehicle sped past and they heard the brakes screech shrilly a few seconds later.

"Where to now?" asked Roshiri, growing panicky, "we've reached a dead end – we're trapped!"

"Our only option is to climb up the fire escape on the side of that building," Leo said, quickly assessing the situation; that or be bashed, bruised, used for baiting the others and then butchered……"

"I'm all for the first one," laughed Donnie nervously.

"Roshiri?"

"Hey, I'm following your lead – after all, you did manage to beat my brother…multiple times…so I think you're plans work lout slightly better than those of me and my brothers. Needless to say, we do not succeed often," he paused and, in a barely audible voice, added, "but our plan to kill you is one hundred percent turtle-proof."

"Ok, Raphael, we need to get Michelangelo and Ronald to safety," Ramakha ordered quietly from where they were still crouched close by to Marcie's lair.

"Can do," replied Raph, shifting Mikey's weight onto his other shoulder.

"Right – we'll make our way back to the Headquarters and wait for the others there. Your brothers _do_ know what they're doing, don't they?"

"You are talking about a leader and a techno-geek; I'd say they're going to be ok, wouldn't you?" Raph growled sarcastically. He made a mental note to tell his youngest brother to lay off the pizzas in future.

"Do you have any idea how we're going to get back to the Headquarters without being spotted?" Ramakha whispered.

"No…but I think we could always fight our way out if things come to the worst…"

"I like your attitude," Ramakha chuckled, "shame I'm gonna have to kill you and your brothers after this. Of course, if you joined us, I could spare _your_ life."

"Sorry, buster, but if my brothers are going to die then I'll die with them. It's called caring for your family – I wouldn't be able to stand by and watch them be slaughtered knowing I had escaped by joining up with the enemy."

"I like you more by the minute, Raphael," sighed Ramakha, twiddling his thumbs, "what a shame that we couldn't be allies."

"Just drop it, ok? We need to get Mikey and Ronald to safety now, before anything else goes wrong."

"He has a point," Reginald finally chipped into the conversation, "if you ask me…"

"No-one asked you!" Ramakha roared.

"You wanna keep it quiet?! We'll be---" Raph was cut off by the clicking of a gun, "---caught."

"Dude…that was probably one of the corniest things an enemy has ever done to us…" Mikey groaned, regaining consciousness, "uh, would you mind putting me down?"

"As you wish, _your majesty_," Raph mumbled as he put Mikey down. His younger brother was rubbing his head and looking in utter bewilderment at the enemies surrounding them.

"So, how much is Mrs. Shredder paying you?" Mikey asked curiously.

"We do this out of love for our sister," replied one group of six.

"She is our niece," replied three others.

"I am her Father," the final one stepped forward, "and who, _or what_, are you?" he scrutinised Mikey closely.

"We're not wearing costumes, if that's what you're thinking. And we are the ones responsible for killing your beloved daughter's husband, or whatever he was to her," growled Raph savagely.

"And my brothers and I are Oroku Saki's brothers." Ramakha bowed deeply.

"Ah, it _is_ good to see you – and in such glorious circumstances. Now, as for the green freaks, I was told there were four of you. Where are your precious brothers?" Marcie's father turned to Raph and Mikey again.

"Our brothers are not going to come back here," sighed Raph sadly.

"Raph…what are you talking about…?" Mikey stammered nervously, looking desperately at his hot-headed brother and then at the surrounding area for any signs of his oldest brother or his brainiest brother, or both of them.

"They'll catch us if we don't keep up this pace, Roshiri," Leo snapped as the human began to fall behind.

"Sorry…not used…to this…that's all…" Roshiri panted as he struggled valiantly to keep up with the two reptilian brothers, who were managing to keep ahead of their pursuers with ease.

"We need to find a way to lose them somehow," Donnie called to his older brother.

"I know, Don, but we do have a slight problem seeing as there are a lot of them and we are now officially lost on the rooftops of New York City."

"We can see the river from here, right?"

"Yeah, so what's your point?"

"How about making for the river and losing them there and swimming along to climb out further along and make our way back to Headquarters to find the others."

"That sounds like a solid suggestion. Do you think I should call Raph's Shell Cell?"

"Yeah, just to check that they are all safe." Roshiri answered before Donnie could say anything.

"Raph? Raph, can ya hear me?" Leo called his brother's Shell Cell, waiting anxiously for a reply.

_"Hello, freak, I believe you were hoping to speak to your bad-tempered brother, am I right?"_

"Who are you?!"

_"Marcie's Father – I have got your brothers prisoner and I am now celebrating with Marcie, her brothers, uncles and Ramakha, Reginald and a now conscious Ronald."_

"No…" Leo's Shell Cell went dead and he turned slowly to face an uncomfortable Roshiri, "your brothers have betrayed us – they led us right into a trap and now Marcie has Mikey and Raph. She's going to kill them!"

"Cool it, Leo," Donnie whispered; although secretly he too believed that the chances of a rescue when Marcie wanted them dead so much were very slim indeed.

"They wouldn't betray us…there's something going on here. We swore our allegiance to you until Marcie was dead. Clearly, she is still alive and so we remain honour-bound to keep our promise. And besides, Marcie won't kill your brothers until you are there to watch them suffer or vice versa. _And_ if Marcie thinks we are now on her side then that gives us the advantage. We must keep out of the way until we hear from my brothers; they will have a plan, you'll see. Meanwhile, we will try to find out where she is keeping your human friends…"

"How do you know about---" Donnie began.

"Word travels fast. We heard that Marcie had two human captives and then you turned up shortly afterwards. We also had the knowledge that Marcie was using them to lure Shredder's killers to her so she could finish them off."

"You are full of surprises," Leo smiled wryly.

"I know," Roshiri beamed, puffing out his chest and looking very pleased with himself.

"We need to keep moving or Marcie's scouts will catch up. Can you give us any rough ideas concerning the whereabouts of our human friends?" Donnie asked.

"Well, she said something about killing them with something that they couldn't live without."

"Not a clue," Leo shrugged after a moment's thought, "Donnie?"

"Water; Leo, I know you want to help Raph and Mikey right now," Donnie glanced meaningfully at his shifty brother, "but if we stick to the plan and make for the river then we will work out our next plan from there."

"Well, whatever we do we had better get a move on," Leo responded sharply, "because Marcie's scouts are only three rooftops behind us now."

"We need a plan to outrun them," said Roshiri, voice urgent, "and I have the perfect thing…I believe you outwitted my brother for a while to buy yourselves time using this very same plan…"

"So, I believe that was Leonardo calling you, am I correct?" Ramakha looked through the bars at Raph.

"Yeah, but they cut him off. Now they're probably going to use the Shell Cell to track him." Raph replied miserably.

"Not if I can help it," Reginald winked at the turtle in red, "we will spout a load of rubbish about how we want to kill you two personally and, in the 'heat' of battle, we'll get you out of here."

"And what about Leo and Don?" piped up Mikey from the corner of the cage they were being kept in.

"We'll figure out a way to help them; I promise you that we will not allow your brothers to die before Marcie does – after that, I cannot be so certain."

"Huh? Oh, the bargain," Raph's face fell in dismal realisation of what Ramakha and Reginald were suggesting.

"Hey, guys," Ronald strode into the room, a little pale but otherwise his usual, brutal self with his features twisted into a mixture of confusion and amusement at the sight of Raph and Mikey in the cage, "uh, where are the other two? She hasn't killed them already has she?"

"No…" Mikey managed a small smile, "they escaped; lucky turtles!"

"I hate to be the one to break it to you, but I saw Marcie's scouts come back with a bloody bandana."

"When?" Ramakha asked sternly.

"Just a moment ago; they arrived with a bloody bandana and also with my Roshiri in tow, claiming he'd been taken hostage by your brothers." Ronald sighed, "They say one turtle was killed and the other badly wounded so they left him for dead on a rooftop. They'll collect the body in the morning."

"But it can't be true!"

"Roshiri related it to Marcie in the greatest of detail."

"What…what colour was the bandana?"

"I'm not sure as I was too far away and could only see that blood had stained it."

"They're sure one of them is definitely dead?" Reginald's voice cracked.

"He fell off the building and they found a trail of blood leading to the river and then a lot of streaks of blood where there was a struggle. One of the scouts was killed but he managed to kill the turtle before falling into the river himself, drowning, and pulling the turtle's body in as he fell."

"Oh God...Raph, who do you think it was?"

"When can we see Roshiri?" Raph asked, oblivious to his little brother's question.

"They're keeping him in the infirmary and he's in deep shock." Ronald answered, "Do you want me to go and find out which of your brothers it was that died?"

"No need, Ronald," a scathing voice laughed coldly from the doorway. Marcie stepped into the room wearing a deep crimson gown with no sleeves and a wrap around glittery black shawl, her hair scraped back into a bun and thick black eyeliner framing her eyes, which were twinkling maliciously, "We have taken a sample of the bandana that my scouts brought back and thought that perhaps our reptilian friends here would like the remnants, and can know that it was a long and agonising death and also that their other brother was fought by none other than Roshiri himself and will probably be dead by now." Marcie smiled triumphantly and tossed the bloody bandana at Mikey, who studied it for a moment before throwing it into the middle of the cage and putting his head in his hands, sobbing quietly. Raph inched slowly towards the bandana and he felt his voice catch in his throat.

"You evil…" he just about managed before he had to stop.

"Marcie, Roshiri is missing…" a scout ran breathless into the room, "he left just after you did."

"Then we shall wait for his return; he has probably gone to finish what he started and make sure your remaining brother is dead." Marcie made to leave the room but called over her shoulder as she left, "when your brother returns, you must all join me for dinner to celebrate the death of two of the turtles. Let the others mourn their loss, knowing that they will be next."

Waiting until Marcie was out of earshot along with her scout, Ramakha, Ronald and Reginald stood in utter silence around the cage. Mikey was crying so hard that he could hardly find the strength to draw breath. Raph was holding the bandana and just staring at it. Staring.

"We're really sorry," Reginald whispered.

"We never thought it would come to this," Ramakha added.

"Roshiri will pay for this breach of honour," growled Ronald.

"What does it matter?" sniffed Mikey, "that won't bring Leo and Donnie back."

"Yeah, our brothers are dead – what do your petty family arguments mean to us? Can you do us one favour though?"

"What?"

"Promise that as soon as Marcie is dead you will kill us in the fastest and most painless way possible so we can be with our brothers again." Raph's voice was toneless; blank like the minds of his brothers' ruthless killers must have been. He was close to tears, and that alone was enough to make Mikey scared.

"We promise – on our honour – we will not forsake the code of honour as Roshiri has."

"Ok, I may be a pain in the backside but I would never forsake our code of honour!"

"You killed our brothers!" Raph breathed deeply, trying to control himself.

"No, I didn't,"

"Then what is this? Leo's bandana! And it is bloodstained!" Mikey moved to the edge of the cage he and Raph were in so that his face, his tear-filled eyes, were only mere centimetres from the defiant ones of Roshiri.

"Oh, I think it's _exactly_ what we think it is!" Raph growled, finally relenting and letting a few tears slide down his cheeks, "and then you went back to finish Donnie off."

"Look, your brothers put up a good fight but we were overpowered, outnumbered and with five weapons to one. Do you think I wanted them dead?"

"Yes."

"I didn't!" Roshiri said, now quite exasperated, "look, now is not the time to explain but I promise you that once we are all safely out of here then I will explain everything. By then, maybe you will believe me; especially when I produce the evidence."

"Evidence?" Mikey questioned, still clutching his eldest brother's bloodstained bandana but drawing back from Roshiri slightly.

"Allow me to let you out of here – after that, you must escape. We can buy you five minutes to get out before we will claim to be coming to check on you. We will meet you back at Headquarters." Roshiri beckoned to his brothers and the four of them left, casting last sympathetic looks at the two caged brothers.

"So, uh, are you gonna let us out?!" Raph called angrily after them. There was suddenly a loud hissing noise as the cage door swung open of its own accord, "Let's go,"

**A/N: -** Uh, hi, please don't throw any virtual objects at me!!! So, what will happen next – will Raph, Mikey and the human brothers escape Marcie? And what dangers and surprises await them on the outside world. Now, review and let me no what you think, please. Preferably with no flaming – I seem to have mislaid my flame-retardant suit!!!

**A MAJOR APOLOGY!** This is going out to Lioness Goddess, Echuirmiel and Sparx...guys, I am more sorry than I can say that I haven't been online in ages! My entire MSN and Hotmail is down and won't let me sign in...hope you guys are ok and I will catch up with you as soon as I can! By no means will I give up until I get the stupid MSN thinig working! Speak to you soon!


	9. Chapter Nine

**A/N-** Sorry this took so long! I was banned…AGAIN…! Is it just me or is it annoying when they don't send you a warning and give you a chance to rectify what you've done? Anyway, um…I believe I ended with a really vicious and nasty cliff-hanger. Heh, really sorry about that, but I will end the wait here with the next instalment! And a big thank-you to Lioness-Goddess and Spootycup! Also, I'm doing a show over these next couple of weeks so I won't be updating for a little while - but hopefully I won't be offline for too long.

"Marcie, my brothers and I request permission to go and see the two remaining turtle brothers so that we can gloat over this…unexpected…victory! They will be in no state to fight back so we wish to cause great emotional suffering." Ramakha lied through his teeth, worried that Marcie would see through him. She didn't.

"And how do you propose to do that?" she asked icily.

"By telling them, in greatest detail, of the suffering of their brothers," Roshiri laughed, almost manically.

"I wish to witness this…"

"No, Marcie, you cannot – perhaps we should bring them here so that the whole company of us can enjoy the entertainment. After all, we should all be celebrating in these grand halls rather than in a dingy cage room…"

"Very well; bring them here. You have five minutes."

"Thank you, Marcie, we will return shortly." Ronald bowed, his brothers following his example, and then left the room.

All four of them made a break for the exit, silent as the ninja warrior is trained to be, and reached the outside world within two minutes, squinting as their eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight.

"Daylight? How long were we in there for?"

"A long time by the looks of it."

"Come on, we don't have long to get a lead on these guys. Soon they'll realise we're missing and we'll be done for." Roshiri led his brothers through the streets, shortcutting wherever he could until they finally, an hour later, reached their Headquarters.

"You're already here, I see," Ramakha greeted Mikey and Raph as he and his three brothers walked in to join the turtles. Both reptilian brothers were knelt on the floor, Raph with an arm around a sobbing Mikey.

"I cannot lie to you any more," Roshiri whispered softly, laying a gentle hand on Mikey's shoulder, "the plan was never supposed to cause this much distress. Forgive me,"

"Forgive you? You killed our brothers! And you're asking us to forgive you!" Raph leapt to his feet and drew his Sais, which he had reclaimed before leaving the cage room at Marcie's lair.

"He's right – you should be killed for this," Mikey was trembling, but not from fear and not entirely from sorrow, but from raw fury.

"Mikey, wait!" a familiar voice called as two cloaked figures ran into the room. Mikey and Raph broke eye-contact with Roshiri and turned to the newcomers.

"It can't be…" Raph began.

"…But it is…" Mikey finished.

"Hey, guys, did ya miss us?" Donnie removed his hood, looking sheepish. Leo did likewise, except his discomfort was multiplied several times to that of Roshiri and Donnie.

"You were supposed to tell them the truth from the start," Leo sighed as he saw his two distressed brothers standing before him, "why didn't you?"

"Because I didn't know how good you would be at faking grief; and I guess I was a little curious as to how strong the bond was between you." Roshiri replied, a deep shade of beetroot. Raph snarled and began to advance on him, only to have his elder brother step in his way.

"Take it easy, Raph,"

"He told us you were dead! He even gave us this," Raph thrust the bloodstained bandana into Leo's hands. Shutting his eyes for a second, Leo took a deep breath.

"Raph…it's ok. This was all staged. The scout that 'killed' me was Roshiri dressed all in black. And then he pretended to kill Donnie as well but only as himself.

"I can't believe you're alive," Mikey croaked, embracing Donnie. Raph scowled and stormed off out of the room in the direction of the dungeons. Mikey slowly let go of Donnie and turned to hug his eldest brother, clinging to him as if he would never let go.

"Somebody had better go after Raphael," Reginald suggested, staring after the hot-headed turtle.

"I'll do it," Leo volunteered, breaking away from his baby brother and heading for the dungeons.

"Raph?" he called warily as he entered the dingy caverns, "Raph, are you in here?"

"What do you want?" came the sharp reply.

"To talk, that's all."

"I'm…I'm in the third cell from the end," Raph's voice was weary and Leo was shocked to see his normally bad-tempered brother looking unusually sober as he sat down next to him on the cell's bench.

"Raph, I-"

"We, me and Mikey, thought you were dead. We thought you'd been killed – do you have any idea what that feels like? Thinking you've lost the most precious things in the world?"

"I-"

"You have no idea how inconsolable Mikey was. He couldn't grasp it; and, to be brutally honest, neither could I. Don't you get it? For a couple of terrible hours, we thought you were DEAD!" he yelled the last word and it echoed eerily round the dungeons.

"Raph, I am so sorry – Roshiri was meant to tell you the truth from the start. But how could he with Marcie there. You have to understand that much. Please don't be angry with me, Raph, or with Donnie, Roshiri and the others."

"I'm glad you're alive, bro," Raph choked out the words so suddenly that Leo barely had time to react as his brother pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Raph, I am so sorry – you and Mikey would never have been put through this if it had been up to us," Leo apologised again, pulling away from his brother.

"I know, but that still doesn't change the fact that you and Donnie are going to wish you were dead if you even think about pulling a stunt like this again…wait until Master Splinter hears about this!"

"Oh? And how are you planning on telling him when we can't get anywhere near the lair?"

"I'll figure it out somehow,"

"Sure you will, bro," Leo snickered.

"I will! You dare to challenge me, Leonardo?" Raph's eyes glinted playfully, hoping his brother would accept the subtle invitation to spar.

"And what if I do?"

"Then we'll have to settle this with a sparring match…and I am so gonna kick your shell into deep space!" Raph drew his Sais.

"You wish, hothead!" Leo unsheathed his Katana and the two began fighting.

The sound of metal on metal reached the ears of the others, who were consumed in an awkward silence.

"Sounds like Leonardo and Raphael are fighting," Roshiri sighed.

"Nah, one's just challenged the other to a spar – it's kinda their way of clearing the air and forgetting all about stuff like this," Mikey explained quietly, his eyes still never leaving Donnie.

"And what is your way of forgetting all about this?" Roshiri inquired curiously.

"Why should I tell you? You told me that Don and Leo were dead!" Mikey snapped back, "you can't make this up to us straight away…but you could make a start by ordering a shell of a lot of pizza!"

"You got it, um, dude…" Ronald trailed off awkwardly. The four human brothers left the room in search of a menu to order pizza from while Donnie and Mike stood in silence once more.

"Why did ya do that, Donnie?"

"Do what? Oh, the fake death thing…that was just meant to be what Roshiri told Marcie – not what he told you and Raph. Heh, it looks like I have a lot of making it up to you to do as well then, huh?"

"Yeah – but that can wait until we're back at the lair." Mikey laughed lightly, forcing a smile onto his face. The sounds of sparring in the dungeons had stopped and Raph and Leo soon returned, Leo walking slightly ahead and instantly going to stand by Donnie.

"You sort it out with Raph?" the younger turtle asked worriedly.

"Yeah, thanks," Leo replied, "but we have some serious apologising to do – even though our original plan didn't actually involve it going this far!"

"I know, but did you see the looks on their faces before they realised who we were?"

"It was scary; Raph looked calm and upset while Mikey's eyes were dull, with none of their usual spark. It was as if they had lost all sense of time and were devoid of all feeling."

"I know what you mean," Donnie nodded.

"Sorry to intrude on this little meeting but can we do something constructive?" Raph asked impatiently.

"Like what?"

"Make a plan to kill Marcie and get Casey and April back would be a good start."

"Speaking of which," Donnie turned to Leo, "after you 'drowned' did you manage to find any clues to their whereabouts."

"Just one," was the leader's solemn response, "I found an old warehouse with the door slightly open and dim lighting. But when I entered I only found ropes tied around the supports,"

"So?"

"They'd been cut, or bitten through or loosened somehow. Something had been tied there…"

"Casey and April – so what do you think happened to them?" Mikey prompted, shifting excitedly at the prospect of finding their human friends.

"I think that when Marcie's scouts left us, a couple of them went and moved our friends to a different hiding place. But maybe Roshiri will have a better lead on it."

"Someone talking about me?" said human raised an eyebrow as he entered the room.

"Do you know if any of Marcie's scouts broke away from the party after 'killing' me and Donnie?"

"Three of them broke off; the three with guns. They went off in the direction of the abandoned warehouses. They never rejoined us." Roshiri sighed.

"I wonder what happened to them…" Raph trailed off, clearly thinking that maybe Casey had stoned their heads in with his baseball bats and hockey sticks and golf clubs.

"Raph, I doubt even Casey would be that stupid when April was involved," Leo said softly, bringing his bad-tempered brother back down to Earth with a bump.

"It was just a thought – a hope."

"Yeah, well don't get your hopes up," sneered Ramakha, also entering the room. I saw Marcie's scouts with two human captives while I and my brothers were on our way back here and I was keeping a lookout at the rear."

"What! Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I didn't think they were of any importance and I was more interested in us staying alive. What would you have done, Roshiri? Risked the lives of your brothers for the sake of those you don't even know?"

"I-" Roshiri couldn't finish, knowing that he would have done exactly as his brother had. His brothers were more important to him than anything else, except maybe the death of Marcie – but they all wanted that equally badly. It was now up to them to kill Marcie and then kill the turtles as well; a situation which Roshiri was rapidly coming to regret.

"Which direction were they taking them in?"

"Towards the old suburb housing estate where Hun is currently hiding out, as he has been doing for several weeks now."

"But Marcie can't possibly be working with the Purple Dragons, can she?" Raph asked in disbelief.

"She can and she is – Hun swore his allegiance to her after Oroku Saki died. Now they are partners in crime and it looks like Marcie is handing your human friends over to him. He will not show them any mercy if they step out of line."

"Yeah, I can imagine – and Casey doesn't have a good history with Hun," Leo grimaced at the thought.

"Don't remind us," growled Raph, looking very much like he would give anything to slice Hun's head off at that moment.

"We have to find them," Mikey whimpered.

"We'll do it tonight, as soon as the city is dark." Reginald reprimanded the young turtle as he and Ronald walked in to join the group.

"But they will be expecting an attack after nightfall," Ramakha muttered, his face showing a deep level of concentration, as though he was onto a big plan.

"Then we shall do it in daylight…but we will need transport."

"Don't worry about that! I have a vehicle that will come to us at the press of a button," Donnie pulled out the remote for the Battle Shell and showed it off proudly to everyone, pressing a button and then adding hurriedly, "but you might want to disable the booby-traps for a bit!"

"No problem," Reginald walked over to a high-tech control panel and pressed a large violet coloured button. There was a dull sound, almost as if the system was sighing, as the traps were disabled. Less than five minutes later, the Battle Shell had arrived outside.

The oddly mixed group clambered into the back of the Battle Shell, except for Donnie, who was the driver, and Ronald, who wanted to ride in the front for the sake of the experience and also to gloat over those who were being violently bumped about in the back of the vehicle.

"So, Donatello, how long will it take you to drive us there?"

"About half an hour…what is the time now?"

"Ten O'clock in the morning."

"Then we will be there by about Ten-Thirty at latest," Donnie informed Ronald cheerfully as he revved up the engine and put his foot down hard on the accelerator. There was an almighty 'thump' in the back as everyone was thrown towards the front of the Battle Shell and into the wall separating the back from the front. Donnie and Ronald made eye-contact and both cringed for their brothers, trying desperately not to laugh.

"You know, it's a shame we have to kill you when this is over,"

"Who says you have to? You are not bound to that decision – and you have no idea of the horrors your brother engraved on our minds. I know I will never forget several of the things he did to us…"

"I am sorry Donatello, but we must avenge him by destroying his killers – that is just how it must be, I'm afraid," Ronald admitted sadly, bowing his head and speaking no more.

**A/N-** Because I left you with such a nasty ending of the last chapter, I thought I'd be nice this time! But I really want more people to review so if you're reading this and not reviewing then can you please push the 'Submit Review' button and just leave a few words, or even a few sentences, telling me what you think of the story! Thank you!


	10. Chapter Ten

**A/N-** Well, here you go – have this new chapter to read! Please review and make me very happy! Enjoy this chapter and hopefully I'll now be able to update more often because the last two performances of my show are Saturday 19th Feb! After that, I should be ok to publish a bit more often...fingers crossed!

"You guys ok?" Donnie asked, stifling his laughter as he opened the back of the Battle Shell to reveal his three brothers and the brothers of Ronald all piled one on top of the other in a massive knot. They were so badly tangled up that when Donnie grabbed Mikey's feet and pulled them the rest of the group were pulled along too! Leo and Raph seemed to be fighting about something; Donnie suspected that one had accidentally kicked the other one. Ramakha was looking extremely red in the face, which Donnie later discovered was because Raph's foot had connected very painfully with a certain area of his body. Roshiri was trying to play peacekeeper between the two quarrelling turtles and Reginald was trying to disentangle his feet from the tails of Mikey's bandana. Ronald almost doubled over with laughter while Donnie made many fruitless attempts to free his brothers.

"Donnie, get us out quick! I don't know how much longer I can stand being tangled up with this idiot!" Leo groaned as Raph once again yelled in his face about how Leo's story about 'accidentally' kicking Raph's face wasn't washing.

"Oh, _I'm_ the idiot? What about you?"

"I'm the leader! You're supposed to do what I say!"

"Well, tough luck, Leonardo – 'cause I ain't taking orders from the likes of you!" Raph kicked out and eventually managed to free himself. Leo then managed to clamber out as Don freed Mikey, leaving three of the four human brothers on the floor.

"If anyone's interested, we're here," Ronald managed as he finally succeeded in composing himself.

"We noticed," Ramakha snapped back.

"Don't get all stressed with Ronald just because he got to go in the front!" Reginald reprimanded his brother.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Ronald cut in, "from what I hear, Donatello and Michelangelo get it ten times worse whenever they want to take a trip topside!"

"Hey!" Leo protested.

"You were talking about us?" Raph spluttered, "Behind our backs?"

"Um…" Donnie trailed off, scuffing at the ground and turning a deep shade of beetroot.

"But it's true, guys," Mikey joined the debate, "you never shut up! You're always at each others throats and, personally, it drives me insane!"

"Geez, gimme a break – you ain't the one who's gotta put up with the Fearless Leader picking ya up on every little thing!"

"I do not do that," Leo sprang into defensive mode, ready to fight Raph in the middle of another verbal onslaught.

"You do so!"

"Do not!"

"Do so!"

"Do not!"

"Do so!"

"Do-"

"SHUT UP!" Ramakha bellowed, grabbing both Raph and Leo by their bandana tails, one in each hand. As they struggled, he tried to reason with them, "I will let go if you promise to stop fighting,"

"Fine," grunted Raph.

"Deal," huffed Leo.

"Wow, if I'd known it was that easy to stop them then I would've tried that years ago, dude!" Mikey grinned smugly as his brothers were dropped to the floor, rubbing the back of their heads gingerly.

"I don't think it would work if you tried it, Michelangelo," Roshiri whispered to the orange-clad turtle.

"Yeah, you're probably right – um, this may seem personal but how old are you guys?"

"Ramakha is thirty, Ronald is twenty-five, I am twenty-three and Reginald is twenty-one. We are reasonably young. What about you?"

"Sixteen…"

"You are but children…how can you have experienced so much at so young an age? You have been put through more than many who are thrice your age and wisdom. But why did our brother attack four children?"

"We got in the way of his plans once; I don't think he ever forgave us."

"Once?" Ramakha was stood behind Mikey.

"Ok, maybe we got in his way a lot – but we were just trying to protect the city."

"Yeah! No-one else ever seems to do it," Raph muttered aggressively.

"Raph, the police have enough on their hands as it is – you can't expect them to come to the aid of four mutant turtles to fight an enemy who they don't even know exists." Leo scolded his brother harshly.

"Shut up, Leo."

"I won't shut up until you stop biting the head of anyone who so much as looks at you. You're not still mad at me for the whole death thing, are you?"

"No…"

"I knew it! You're angry because you think we betrayed you and because we let you believe we were dead and because we wouldn't let you get revenge on Roshiri for not telling you the truth!"

"That's not it at all! You don't get it, do you? None of you do! I nearly lost the one thing that has kept me sane over all these years; the one thing that stopped me going topside and getting myself killed! Do you have any idea how it feels? Can you even tell me one time where you felt that kind of panic?" Raph shoved Leo backwards a little. Mikey looked embarrassed; he had forgiven Roshiri, Leo and Donnie only minutes after they'd got back. All eyes were on Leo, awaiting his response. The blue-clad turtle sighed and looked his hot-headed brother directly in the eyes.

"Do you want to know when I felt that kind of panic? How about when I found you shot and bleeding in the alleyway, or maybe when Donnie was shot, or perhaps when the garbage island caught on fire, or when we first arrived there and you disappeared. Those not good enough examples for you? I can think of more: when we were poisoned and then told we would be fighting the Shredder, when Casey, April and Sensei were tied up and their lives were forfeit, when Shredder attacked Donnie's mind and your mind, when Hun was about to kill Mikey and there was nothing we could do, when you disappeared after Donnie's mind was attacked for the first time, when you and me were attacked by the Foot and I had to leave you on your own to get help – had enough yet!"

"I…I…you remember all of that off the top of your head? Without thinking?"

"Like it was yesterday, because all of them resulted from some stupid mistake that _I_ had made."

"I had no idea," Raph trailed off.

"You very rarely do," Leo stated bluntly, "now, are we going to rescue April and Casey or are we just going to stand here?"

"Rescue April and Casey!" Mikey whooped, punching a fist in the air and gaining a smile from every face, even the previously shell-shocked one of Raphael.

"Is this it?" Leo hissed to Ramakha as the two peered round a corner, everyone else waiting in the darkness of an alleyway.

"This is it," replied the human.

"Positive?" asked Raph, stepping forward.

"I am sure we are in the right place. Now, we must advance." Ramakha darted across the street to the other side where he waited in the alley next to the house Hun was holding April and Casey hostage in. He signalled to them that it was clear and, one by one, they made their way across the street to join him. Once they were all safely on the other side, Donnie peeked through the window to the house and saw into the living room.

"You guys aren't gonna believe this!" he gasped.

"What? Dude, what am I not going to believe?" Mikey pestered, pressing his face up against the glass. What he saw inside almost made him sick. Protruding from the floor and reaching about five feet high were several metal poles. Casey and April were tied to two of these poles and three strangers were tied to the other poles. Two were young men who were talking in hushed voices and looked a terrible state. The final prisoner was a small girl of about the age of ten.

"This can't be right - why has he got a little girl prisoner?"

"Probably because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Donnie suggested.

"Or perhaps it is because she is the daughter of the man who previously owned this house before I claimed ownership…" a rumbling voice suggested. Whipping round sharply, Donnie's breath caught in his throat and he gulped, glancing at Raph quickly. His older brother was looking shocked but had the usual menacing gleam in his eyes that he always had when they faced such opponents as the Shredder, Marcie or, in this case, Hun.

"Get lost, Hun," Reginald stepped forward to confront the huge man.

"Isn't it time you went home to your Mummy?" Roshiri sneered.

"Or maybe you'd rather go and kill someone else's Mummy…" Ramakha snarled.

"…and then kill them too and destroy a family," Ronald finished for his brothers.

"You mean you haven't got over that yet? And now you've stooped so low as to help these freaks!" Hun chuckled mirthlessly.

"What did he do?" whispered Leo to Ronald, who was standing closest to him.

"He killed Ramakha's wife because she saw him stealing from an innocent old lady. And then Ramakha's son was murdered when he tried to tell me what happened. Of course, when Oroku Saki found out what had happened he rushed home straight away - but Hun told him that he had been trying to _save_ Karamina and Kai from some thugs. Always the fool, our brother believed Hun above us. He had made Hun take a blood oath of loyalty to him and so he didn't think Hun would ever lie to him," Ronald paused and sighed, "Ramakha's never forgotten it."

"Whoa, I'm not surprised. Why must some people always take advantage so hugely of others?" Leo questioned, talking more to himself than to anyone else. How could even Hun be that heartless? Although on thinking about it further, it didn't seem so impossible!

"Well, freaks, maybe you would benefit from losing one of _your_family members…" Hun grabbed Donnie by his bandana tails and aimed a fist at the unfortunate turtle. Raph instantly sprang into action and grabbed Hun round the neck, holding both of his Sais to the man's throat.

**A/N-** Please Review! And a big thank-you to all my reviewers, whether you've reviewed one chapter or all ten chapters! Thank-you to everyone!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**A/N-** Here is a nice long chapter…I thought I'd do something I haven't done properly before in a chapter… I thought I'd do shout-outs!

**Spootycup: **I'm glad you're enjoying the story…and Raph and Leo interaction is so much fun to write! Am I right? ;-)

**Lioness Goddess:** I had to give Raph an argument where he had a fair point…doesn't ever happen otherwise!

**BubblyShell22:** Thanks for the review! And here's the butt kicking ya wanted!

**Chibi****roseangel:** meeps and hides more is here…uh, I come in peace!

As they stood, in a stale-mate situation, Leo was hurriedly thinking of some way to distract Hun and get Donnie back off him. Glancing at Ramakha, he saw the purest loathing in the man's eyes.

"Ramakha," Leo hissed in the man's ear, "do you want revenge for what he did to your family?"

"Yes…of course I do!" Ramakha answered stiffly, fighting off tears as he thought of his lost family.

"Then take it now – kill him for what he did to you!" Leo raised his voice a little and Ramakha gladly took the advice, lunging at Hun and knocking Donnie out of his grip. Raph jumped off the back of Hun and Ramakha set about fighting the man responsible for the deaths of his wife, Karamina, and his son, Kai. Hun fought viciously and ruthlessly, forcing Ramakha's brothers to join the fray after he swung a particularly nasty punch and hit Roshiri as Ramakha ducked. The four reptilian brothers looked on in silence, each as anxious as the next to see the outcome of the fight. But as soon as a badly aimed kick from Hun struck Leo square in the chest, throwing him backwards off his feet, Mikey and Donnie charged forward to attack Hun and help the humans. Raph quickly helped Leo to his feet before also leaping into the battle, an angry growl coming from the back of his throat as he did so. Leo, although initially a little shocked from the impact of Hun's foot, shook himself back to reality and grabbed one of Hun's flailing arms, twisting it round and kicking him in the face.

"Nice moves," Roshiri yelled to Mikey as the turtle looped on of his Nunchuks around Hun's neck and flipped over his head, swinging round to kick him in the back with both feet.

"Thanks," Mikey grinned lop-sidedly as Hun staggered forwards.

"No problem!" Roshiri chuckled as he ducked Hun's fists. Making eye-contact with Ronald and Reginald, he formulated a plan and the three of them positioned themselves so that Hun wouldn't be able to hold off all three of them at once. Ronald swept Hun off his feet while the giant man attempted to strangle Reginald and Roshiri was quick off the mark with a follow-up whack round the head with a dustbin lid. Hun groaned but, with one more blow from Donnie's Bo staff, was soon out cold.

"Now, let's rescue your friends," Reginald smiled warmly to Raph.

"What about my revenge on Hun?"

"We'll finish that later – we will get our chance and you will get the revenge you so badly want, Ramakha, you can be certain of that," Roshiri clapped his brother on the back and followed Raph and Reginald round to the front of the house. The door was flung open and the group cautiously took a few uneasy steps inside.

"Why do I get the feeling we're not alone in here?" Mikey gulped.

"Maybe because we ain't alone," Raph snarled as a light switched on and about twenty Foot ninjas revealed themselves, surrounding the eight companions and blocking the entrance to the Living Room, the very room in which April and Casey were being held hostage.

"Great – now what do we do?" Ronald grumbled, drawing out a single Katana and preparing to fight.

"We fight, we rescue Casey and April, we get out; that's the plan," Raph explained simply.

"And when did I approve of such a hasty plan?" Leo inquired, standing directly behind Raph, causing the hot-headed turtle to jump when he was spoken to.

"Since we never had time to listen to one of your fancy ideas, that's when!" Raph shot back at his brother. Leo rolled his eyes and took a deep breath – now would not be a good time to lose his temper with Raphael, however tiresome he was being!

"My ideas work, Raph, unlike many of yours!"

"How do you know that? You never give me a chance to lead so I never get the chance to form a plan and see if it works!" Raph shot back.

"He has a point," Mikey nodded.

"Yeah, but Leo's plans _are_ more thoroughly thought through – Raph tends to just rush into everything he does without thinking about the consequences," Donnie said in defence of Leo.

"Will you two stop fighting each other and fight the Foot ninjas, please?" growled Ramakha, looking exasperated.

"You know what?" Donnie laughed, "I think that's the best suggestion yet!" he and Mikey looked at each other with huge grins on their faces before jumping into battle with the Foot ninjas. Raph and Leo, after one final glare at each other, followed the examples of their brothers. The four human brothers also joined them and Donnie could tell that it was getting ever harder for them to be able to honestly say that they wanted him and his brothers dead.

"Mikey! There's an opening," gasped Leo as he fought alongside his little brother, "you and I will make a break for it and get April and Casey out – RAPH! DONNIE! YOU TWO KEEP FIGHTING!" Leo finished, barking the orders out to everyone.

"You got it, oh fearless leader," Raph mumbled sarcastically.

"Raph, will you just shut up for once!" Donnie uncharacteristically snapped, knowing that his unusual display of aggression would shut his hot-headed brother up for a while.

"Geez, chill out, dude," Raph murmured, taken by surprise.

"C'mon, we'd better follow Leo's orders…he and Mikey are going to get Casey and April out."

"Got it," Raph nodded at last.

"Mikey, let's go," Leo hissed to his brother. Mikey grinned and the two fought with a suddenly enhanced vigour to get into the living room. Raph and Donnie followed and held the Foot off in the doorway while Mikey and Leo ventured inside.

"Guys, you finally made it!" Casey grinned nervously.

"We're so glad you came," April added.

"But now you must leave," Casey finished.

"What? We're not leaving without you – we're here to rescue you," Leo explained, feeling a little confused.

"Yeah, dudes, we gotta bust you outta here!" Mikey laughed, starting to untie their human friends.

"You have to leave here – if Hun finds out then he'll set this place to self-destruct. It will explode, causing the houses either side of it to join it as a heap of rubble and bodies."

"Who lives in the other houses?" Leo asked.

"Other prisoners…Hun and the Foot are capturing anyone who had any involvement with defeating Shredder or with refusing to help him or simply because they tried to report crimes by the Foot." April sighed.

"So just get out," Casey pleaded as Mikey finished untying April and began to release Casey while Leo freed the others and fought off any Foot ninjas that got past Donnie and Raph. Suddenly, Hun burst through the door, knocking Donnie and Raph unconscious as he swung his huge fists at them without mercy.

"So, you green freaks want me to blow this place into oblivion?" he cackled.

"Not really, no," Mikey answered, gulping.

"Mikey, we weren't supposed to answer that!" Leo hissed.

"It doesn't matter – I would do it with or without your agreement," chuckled Hun mirthlessly, cracking his knuckles and setting fire to a fuse which led to a pile of dynamite in a nearby closet, "three minutes…" he laughed as he and the other Foot ninjas left the house and locked the turtles in.

"Three minutes?" April gasped in disbelief, "We'll never make it out in time!"

"You and Casey get Donnie and Raph out of here – we'll deal with all the prisoners. Ramakha, Roshiri, Ronald and Reginald, will you help us?" Leo turned to the four human brothers who had entered the living room.

"Of course – we are your allies until Marcie is dead," Roshiri answered, lifting one of the young men who had also been tied up. Ramakha was cradling the small girl and Ronald was supporting the other man. Reginald smashed a window and climbed out to help everyone out.

"Mikey," Leo looked to his brother, "We will have to get into the other houses either side of this one and help everyone else out. We can climb out of an upstairs window and jump to the other rooftops and get in through their upstairs windows."

"No problem, big bro," Mikey grinned, "we can handle this!"

Leo and Mikey clambered into the upstairs window of the right hand house. Leo made a time check; two minutes to go.

"Mikey, go to the bottom of this house with a prisoner and smash a front window. I'll do the same in the left-hand house. Then we get the other prisoners and hand them out to Roshiri and the others." Leo ordered, not giving Mikey time to reply before making his way to the rooftop the other side of the house they had just been fighting in. Mikey groaned but ran to the living room in the house he was in, untied a teenage girl and her father, both of whom could walk. He smashed a window and helped them into the safe hands of Ramakha and Roshiri.

Leo was now in the house the other side of the one set to self-destruct. Gasping for breath, he ran into the living room and found no prisoners. Panicking, he turned and ran to the kitchen; nothing.

"Oh shell…" he trailed off, racing upstairs and searching the bedrooms. There were no prisoners anywhere. He came to the last bedroom, knowing there must be prisoners in there, but there wasn't anyone. Hearing something downstairs, he took off down the stairs in three leaps, reaching the bottom with a 'thump'. Rushing into the living room, he encountered three Foot Tech ninjas, who rapidly turned invisible before him and started to attack him from all sides. They were soon joined by Hun, who grabbed a startled Leo by his bandana tails. Leo yelled as he was lifted off the ground and flung roughly into the kitchen, stopping only when he rammed into a cupboard. Looking up, he saw Hun above him, holding a kitchen chair and readying to smash it over the unfortunate blue turtle's head…

"Reginald, shouldn't Leonardo have been in the other house by now?" Ronald called to his brother from where he'd been talking to April and Casey, explaining the whole scenario to them.

"He should have been…" mumbled Reginald to himself. Raph and Donnie were regaining consciousness and Raph leapt to his feet, swaying slightly at first, and rushed into the building Leo had been in, followed shortly by Casey, who was worried for the red-clad turtle's welfare.

"Is everyone out of that house?" Donnie asked, looking over the total of eleven people, not including April and Casey, who were now sat in front of him. Seven were conscious and four were not; this presented Donnie with a problem. The ones who were conscious were going to have to be tricked into thinking they'd imagined him and his brothers.

"Everyone's out, bro," Mikey grinned, emerging from the house with thirty seconds to go before they blew up, "but we need to get a bit further away from here!"

"What about Leo, Raph and Casey?" April cut in.

"They'll catch up," Roshiri replied, as he carried one of the unconscious prisoners to safety.

"Put him down, Hun!" Raph slurred, still a little groggy as Hun abandoned the kitchen chair and dragged the blue-clad turtle to his feet.

"Give me three good reasons…" Hun smirked.

"He's my brother; I don't need a reason to save him from a jerk like you!" growled Raph, drawing his Sais.

"And I'm a friend of the family," added Casey, not wanting to be left out.

"You have twenty seconds," Hun laughed, throwing Leo into Raph and sending the two turtles sprawling. Bursting out of the front door, Hun made a quick escape down the street.

"Fifteen seconds," Casey reminded the turtles as he helped both Raph and Leo to their feet.

"We gotta get outta here…" Raph moaned, rubbing his head.

"How many seconds have we got left, Casey?" Leo slurred, staggering forward a few steps.

"Ten…let's go!"

"They're not gonna make it!" April bit her lip shakily as they peered round a corner at the house. Finally, with eight seconds to go, Casey ran out with Raph and Leo close on his heels. They continued to run and made it just far enough away not to get caught up in the initial blast of the self-destructing house. However, they were showered in debris as they ran towards where the others were. Eventually they reached them and, apart from a few minor cuts and bruises, they seemed for the most part unharmed.

"Hey, we made it," Casey laughed, twirling April round in his arms.

"Yeah, and congratulations you two – we haven't had a chance to say that properly yet!" Raph laughed.

"Thanks, guys," April hugged each of the turtles in turn.

"Um, I hate to interrupt this reunion," Reginald cut in sheepishly, "but we do need to keep going. We can leave all the other prisoners here and tell them that this was all a dream or something."

"Who are you, pal?" Casey stepped defensively out to face Reginald.

"I'm Reginald and these are my brothers: Roshiri, Ramakha and Ronald."

"_You!_" Roshiri hissed, striding forward so his face was millimetres from that of Casey.

"Me?" Casey asked, befuddled.

"You were the one that came to the aid of the turtles on your motorbike that night at Second Time Around, the antique shop."

"Yeah, that was me – wait, how do you know about that? The guys wouldn't have told you…would they?" Casey looked round to where Raph and Mikey were stood.

"We didn't say a word!" Mikey held his hands up in innocence.

"Yeah…it's kinda a sensitive subject," Raph added under his breath.

"We were there," Ramakha also joined them, now having explained to all the remaining prisoners that the turtles weren't real and that it had only been humans helping and that they should all go home!

"You were there? But how could ya have been there? I didn't see ya!"

"Wait a minute," April gasped, "you're the Foot Elite! You and your master were responsible for destroying my shop, forcing us to run away and almost…" she stopped and bit her lip, "I don't believe this!"

"April, calm down," Donnie tried.

"Calm down? Why are you working with them!" Casey answered for April.

"Because we have no other choice…" Raph sighed.

"And you're ok with this?" April asked disbelievingly, turning to Leo and searching his face for any signs of an ally on the matter.

"We didn't have a choice," he muttered.

"You could've said no!" Casey pointed out bitterly.

"Would now be a good time to point out that we're also Shredder's brother…not by blood but close enough; like the turtles consider you a member of their family, he was a member of ours." Ronald explained.

"I can't believe this," April said again, shaking her head.

"We can explain later," Leo spoke softly and everyone turned to listen, "right now; can we please concentrate on getting away from here before we're discovered?"

"Best suggestion yet," Ramakha mumbled, making eye contact with Raph.

"I'm not going anywhere with them!" April protested, "Not until someone explains why this is all ok!"

"April, please-" Raph tried.

"No, Raph, I won't."

"C'mon, Ape, even Leo is ok with this!" Mikey coaxed.

"Ape, we'll go with them for now – I trust the guys' judgement and I'm gonna follow them to the end, and I want you with me," Casey put an arm round his wife.

"Ok, I guess I can give them one chance," April stood up and followed them.

"Guys, shouldn't we contact Master Splinter? He's bound to be worried about us by now," Leo suddenly changed the subject.

"Got it," Don pulled out his Shell Cell, "Master Splinter? You there?"

_"Donatello? Is that you? Where are you?"_

"I'm not exactly sure – I'll explain later."

_"And your brothers? Are they with you? Are you all safe?"_

"We're all safe, Sensei, and we've now got April and Casey with us."

_"But I can also hear some unfamiliar voices…who are they?"_

"Um…I don't really want to have to explain this over Shell Cell…"

_"Where can I find you?"_

"How about you meet us outside the old Foot Headquarters?"

_"Donatello! You are not serious?"_

"Yes, Master Splinter, I'm serious. We'll explain later. Ten minutes enough time for you to get there?"

_"Certainly. Goodbye, Donatello – and make sure you are all very careful!"_

"Don't worry, Sensei, we will be." Don hung up and turned to his brothers, "we're meeting Master Splinter outside the Foot HQ. That ok with you guys?"

"Sure," Mikey replied.

"I was talking to Roshiri and his brothers!"

"Sorry, dudes,"

"Not a problem, Michelangelo – and that is fine. Your Sensei is called Splinter?" Ronald laughed but turned suddenly serious when he mentioned Splinter.

"Yes…why?" Leo narrowed his eyes.

"I believe we owe him as much of an apology as we owe you, Leonardo, and you, Miss. O'Neill."

"It's Mrs. Jones now!" April corrected proudly.

"Why do you need to apologise to Master Splinter?" Leo inquired, smiling at April's comment.

"And I think you owe all of us an apology – do you have any idea what you put us through!" Raph snapped.

"Not now, Raph!" Leo chided his brother, "We need to meet Sensei."

**A/N-**Ok, you've read the story – please review!


	12. Chapter Twelve

**A/N: -** Here is the next chapter and thank-you to everyone who reviewed! No waffle this time, just straight into the chappie: -

Ten minutes later, they arrived outside the Foot HQ. As sure as his word, Splinter was there, keeping a look-out for his sons and any enemies that might appear.

"Sensei!" Mikey grinned as they reached the old rat.

"Master Splinter," Leo bowed, "we have a lot of things to explain to you."

"Then let us go inside," Roshiri led them up the stairs and into the main hall of the Foot HQ.

"So, my sons, kindly explain to me why we are sitting in the Foot's Headquarters as if it is perfectly normal?" Splinter looked sternly at each of his sons.

"Sensei, this is Roshiri, Ramakha, Ronald and Reginald – they are Shredder's brothers and also wish for revenge against Marcie. Since the Shredder dies, they have had control of this building and now a temporary truce is in place so that we are able to work together to defeat Marcie." Donnie took on the job of running through the most important facts; though he decided, for the while, to leave out the part about the human brothers being the Foot Elite.

"And they also helped you find Mr. and Mrs. Jones – my best wishes to both of you," he bowed to April and Casey.

"Yes, they did – it seems they have reason to despise Hun too," Leo grimaced.

"But they seem familiar…I know them from somewhere…"

"We must first offer you our deepest apologies, Splinter-san, and say that we hope this will not affect your willingness to work with us too badly," Roshiri sighed, "but we must reveal that we have been partly responsible for the near-death of one of your sons, the destruction of Mrs. Jones' shop and also…for the death of your Master Yoshi." Roshiri finished, waiting for the reaction. But none came; Splinter remained collected, although his eyes seemed to glisten slightly at first.

"Sensei?" Leo tested, looking a little concerned.

"You gonna say something?" Raph added, exchanging a worried look with Leo.

"How can I make an appropriate response to news such as this?" Splinter finally said, though more to himself than to anyone else.

"Splinter-san, we apologise again,"

"Silence," Splinter held up a hand to silence Roshiri, "you are telling me that you destroyed April's shop, nearly killed my son Leonardo and were partly responsible for the death of my Master Yoshi. And those are only the more serious charges by your names. There were many more encounters which ended badly for us. You have caused my family as much pain as your brother himself with your heartlessness and your inability to stand up with honour for what is truly right. The Shredder has nearly killed each member of my family at least once and you four often had a crucial part to play, and you expect an apology to be enough? I can never forgive you for what you have done, and I admire my sons greatly for being able to work alongside you and put their quarrels with you aside so that you can achieve one goal."

"Please, Splinter-san, you must understand this: the Shredder was our brother and we could not leave him to fight alone. There are regrets we have, but anyone who stood up to the Shredder was killed; he would not have spared us simply because we were family to him. You do not understand"

"I understand," Splinter interjected once more, "that I do not wish to join forces with you. However, I will stand by my family and stand by my sons; they are still too young to fully know the consequences of everything they do and every choice they make. So, I will offer my services to this cause, but do not, under any circumstances, consider yourselves forgiven of your wrong-doings towards my family."

"Thank you, Splinter-san, you have been most gracious. We will allow you to return to your home now and ask that you can be here tomorrow at Ten O'clock in the morning."

"We will be here," Splinter answered icily, leaving the building, closely tailed by Leo. Raph, Donnie and Mikey stayed behind and waited for Casey and April before following their Master and their brother out of the building. April's lips were pursed and she glared coldly at the four human brothers as she flounced out of the building, a tense Casey at her heels. It was going to be a long time before she would be willing to help the human brothers; and even longer if the turtles told her the deal they had made regarding the temporary truce…

"My sons, I am uneasy about the truce; there is something you are not telling me, am I right?"

"Master Splinter – we made a deal with them. We said that if they helped us get rid of Marcie then they could seek their revenge on us for the death of their brother afterwards."

"Leonardo, I am disappointed that you would agree to such a thing when you are putting your entire family in danger." Splinter scolded his eldest son firmly, eyes hard and gleaming with disappointment, "you will have to be punished for this rash course of action without consulting me…but not until we have secured our safety."

"Sensei, don't punish Leo – I started the whole thing. They were gonna kill Mikey and Donnie if we didn't agree and I originally suggested it," Raph admitted, giving Leo one of his 'you owe me one' looks.

"We're all to blame, Sensei. I mean, we didn't exactly protest, did we?" Mikey blushed; he couldn't let Raph and Leo take all the blame…or all the credit for their honesty on the issue!

"Then I am at a loss for what to do." Splinter sighed.

"Splinter, dude, ya don't have to punish them…" Casey trailed off, "this might still work out…"

"Mr. Jones, I appreciate that you stick up for my sons with the best intentions, but this deal should not have been struck. They should have asked to speak with me first."

"Sensei, we may have been rash but we were just worried that if we asked to consult you then they would have killed us without trying to negotiate further. At least this way we get rid of Marcie and then only have to hide from one enemy." Leo pointed out.

"I hate to admit it but Leo's right, Master Splinter – and we don't got a choice any more because the deal has been made," Raph continued for his brother.

"I must meditate on this situation. Nobody is to leave the lair until I return."

"Um, what about us?" April asked nervously.

"You and Mr. Jones may leave and return home. You must want to spend some quality time together."

"What about your honeymoon?" Mikey cut in anxiously.

"We'll re-schedule. I think any attempt to leave good old New York City now would only end in disaster again!" Casey laughed hollowly, clearly still concerned for the safety of himself and April.

"We'll see you tomorrow, guys," April smiled gently, waving at them before glancing at Splinter's retreating back, "we wouldn't miss it – and good luck," she whispered the last three words to them, patting Donnie on the shell and then leaving with Casey, who gave them a final salute.

"Man, this sucks," Mikey huffed as he flopped down onto the sofa. Raph growled and threw himself down next to his youngest brother.

"We have to figure out a way to make Sensei agree to this deal. We haven't got a choice; if we back out then we get killed on the spot and if we stay in then Sensei will be mad at us and then we'll end up dead anyway," Leo paced up and down the living room.

"Dude, if you're gonna pace, can ya at least pace somewhere else so you're not blocking the T.V.?" Mikey grumbled as he tried to see round his brother.

"Ugh, you're hopeless! Watching T.V. when there's a really important dilemma that needs sorting out?" Leo's eyes widened in disbelief, "are you even listening to me?"

"Take the hint, Leo, we ignore ya enough times; no-one ever listens to you!" Raph smirked. Leo growled and launched himself at Raph and sofa fell back, causing Raph and Leo to tumble over in mid-fight while Mikey just landed with a 'thud'. The door to Splinter's room flew open and he strode out and separated the two brawling turtles roughly, pulling them to their feet.

"Go to your rooms – both of you! I am trying to meditate so that I can fix your blunder in your recent judgement and decisions!" Splinter watched them both storm off to their rooms, still glaring daggers at each other, and then sighed as he watched his two youngest sons set the sofa the right way up again and settle down to watch cartoons. He walked slowly back to his own room and continued his mediation.

"It's so quiet without Leo and Raph fighting," Donnie whispered to his brother.

"I know, it's actually kinda creepy," Mikey replied, stifling his laughter.

"What do you think their doing now?"

"I think Raph will be attacking something with his Sais and pretending that it's Leo, unless it's something belonging to Leo that he's attacking!"

"Yeah," Donnie laughed, "and Leo will be thinking of all the ways to get back at Raph in practice or just thinking of ways to get him in trouble."

"Or maybe he'll be reading or imagining the day where Raph admits that Leo is better than him and swears that he will be Leo's slave for a week and never insult him ever again for as long as they live!" Mikey's imagination was in full swing now.

"Do you really think that's gonna happen?"

"Oh yes, for sure," Mikey nodded solemnly. Donnie chuckled and Mikey spluttered as he burst out laughing, "the day that happens is the day I give up pizza and the day you forget what a screwdriver is, dude!"

"I see your point. So, you wanna see if there's any pizza?"

"Definitely, bro – you wanna sit outside Leo's room and talk loudly about how good the pizza is and about how right Raph was in the fight. And then sit outside Raph's room and sing 'I know a song that'll get on your nerves'?"

"That's going a bit too far, Mike," Don frowned.

"Yeah, I guess so – I'll settle for just a pizza with extra strawberry sauce and gummy worms!"

"You got it, bro," Donnie stood up and made his way to the kitchen to get the pizza. When he returned, he found Mikey watching the News channel.

"Mikey? Are you sick or something?" he asked, cautiously approaching his brother.

"No…I was just flipping through the channels and I saw this. Come and take a look,"

_"A mysterious scene was found at the small cottage of Marcie Saki today. She claims to have been attacked by some strange creatures. In this interview, she said: 'From what I could see, they were half-man, half-turtle. They were hideous!' On close examination, mutated DNA has been discovered on the scene and a full investigation is now underway. Back to you in the studio."_

"No way…LEO! GET YOUR SHELL OUT HERE NOW!" Donnie yelled. Leo emerged from his room, looking sour but curious at the same time, and Raph also emerged from his to see what all the fuss was about.

"What's going on, Donnie?"

"Marcie was on T.V. claiming to be attacked by man-turtles. They found mutated DNA on the scene – how long now before she says she saw them go down a manhole?"

"WHAT!" Raph snapped, "I'm gonna kill that stupid b"

"RAPH!" Leo growled loudly, "save it! We need to talk to Ramakha and the others tomorrow before we come to any decision on this, got it?"

"Yes, your highness," Raph remarked sarcastically, "as you…command!" On the last word, Raph aimed a punch at Leo's stomach but was blocked and then promptly flipped onto the floor.

"I thought I ordered you boys to your rooms!" Splinter sighed as he entered the room.

"Sensei, look at the T.V." Donnie pointed to the screen where the report was still showing and going into further detail.

"I see we have no choice," Splinter inhaled deeply, not believing what he was about to say, "but to help the Shredder's brothers."

**A/N: -** There you have it, people – hope you liked it! Review please!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**A/N: -** Here's the next instalment of Wreaking Revenge. Sorry it's so late! Thank you for all your patience and reviews! And my shout-outs are at the end of this chapter, so if you didn't review then you don't have to go through all of them first – but I will plead with you to review if you are not doing so already as it makes this author very happy! I was thrilled with the reviews I got from the last chapter, and if any of the reviewers are from England, like me, then I would be interested to know. Ok, enough chit-chat – ENJOY!

"I assume from the concerned looks on your faces that you saw what was on the News last night?" Roshiri asked as soon as the turtles, Splinter, Casey and April arrived the next morning.

"We did – and it was after seeing that and reassessing the risks to my sons that I decided we had no choice but to work with you." Splinter told Roshiri and Ramakha. Ronald and Reginald shot each other quick glances, each daring the other to laugh.

"We are pleased to hear it," Ramakha bowed politely. He would have to stay on the good side of Splinter… well, as much on the good side as he could after his past experiences with the old rat's various family members and close friends.

"Does anyone else think we should go inside?" Leo cut in, shifting uncomfortably.

"Good idea, Leonardo," Reginald replied, "come, we will explain our plan to you."

"Your plan?" Leo's voice was edged with the essence of someone who was desperately trying to control their temper.

"We formulated a plan last night after having seen the News," Reginald looked to his brothers and backed away a little from the turtle in blue, having caught sight of the gleam in his eyes, "We knew we couldn't risk leaving it in case Marcie attacked you and your brothers some time during the night." Reginald watched warily as Leo bit his lip in deep thought.

"I understand," he said finally, "But I would rather that, while in the truce, all plans are made with our opinions as well. Ok?"

"Good, it is agreed," Ronald smiled warmly and ushered them in front of him, shooting Roshiri a malicious look of blood-lust, which was returned with equal malice by his brother.

"Hey, Leo," Mikey pulled his older brother back, "I know I'm not the one who usually mistrusts people…but do you really think we can trust these guys?"

"I think they will hold their end of the bargain and help us kill Marcie. But I have a feeling that their plan to kill us will happen immediately after Marcie takes her final breath…"Leo answered grimly.

"What do we do?"

"We wait – and we concoct a plan to combat whatever moves they could be planning to try with us."

"I hate waiting."

"I know, Mikey, but this wait could be what gives us time to come up with something to save our shells!"

"GUYS!" Raph yelled back at them, "WE GOT THREE MINUTES TO GET TO THE HQ BEFORE THE TRAPS ARE FIRED UP AGAIN!"

"COMING!" Leo called back, "we'll talk to Raph and Donnie later…they can give us their feelings. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who can see through them…although maybe after this is over they will see sense and allow us to put aside our differences."

"Whoa, deep thinking, bro – I can practically see your brain clunking away!" Mikey laughed as he and Leo headed up the stairs.

Once in the headquarters, Leo and Mikey sat either side of Splinter, who was still looking highly doubtful.

"So…what's this plan of yours?" Leo asked, breaking the stony silence that had settled in the space of a few seconds.

"We have made the decision to lure Marcie and her troops here."

"That's it?" Donnie raised an eye-ridge at Ramakha's words.

"No…just give me a chance to explain…" Ramakha rolled his eyes in frustration, "we lure Marcie, Hun and the rest of those Foot traitors here."

"And then what is to happen?" Splinter inquired coldly.

"We kill Marcie."

"And then you kill us while we're on your territory – where we do not have a chance to escape?" Splinter's voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"That's not how it is," Ronald interjected crossly; "we will give you a day's head-start."

"I do not want a day's head-start – I want this deal cancelled. I want us to help you defeat Marcie and then I want to be allowed the peace of mind knowing my family is safe from danger and finally being able to sleep in peace, in the good knowledge that we will be able to live as normal a life as is possible in our situation of life."

"I know…" Reginald spoke unexpectedly gently, "and we appreciate that – but your sons killed our brother."

"And your brother killed my Master Yoshi and has repeatedly jeopardised the lives of my sons. You think that is fair? We have as much reason and motive to kill you – but we make no such bargains."

"I'm sorry. Your sons made the deal and the deal stands. You can help us kill Marcie and then die or you can just die and Marcie will still live and hurt innocent people." Ramakha bellowed. Splinter was silent and Raphael scowled, only prevented from exploding by a warning look from Leo and a pat on the shell from Mikey.

"Those guys are really starting to annoy me…" Raph growled in an undertone to his older brother.

"It's ok, Raph," Leo added in determination, "they won't kill us – I would not let that happen."

"Always the hero, huh, Leo?" Raph joked.

"You got it, bro," Leo replied. It was in rare moments like this when Raph and Leo got on and acted like teenage brothers who didn't want to rip each other's heads off that made Mikey and Donnie smile - and usually fished out the camera except this time they didn't have one to hand, so they contended themselves with exchanging a significant look.

"What do we do now, oh fearless leader?" Raph asked sarcastically as the four brothers sat alone together the following evening.

"Whaddaya mean?" Leo looked up from where he'd been reading a book he'd found in the human brothers' library.

"Tomorrow morning the plan is put into action and that means Marcie will be here by midday at latest."

"So? We kill her – Roshiri and the others have been over that a zillion times!" Leo rolled his eyes at the stupidity of his hot-headed brother.

"I know that! I mean _after_ that, bozo! What happens when Roshiri, Ramakha, Ronald and Reginald try to kill us? And, more to the point, what about when our day's head-start is up?"

"We will have to concoct a plan to get rid of them. We will reason with them and try to negotiate a compromise before we turn to violence, no matter what your opinion on negotiation is, Raphael," Leo used his brother's full name, hands on hips, "then, if, and _only_ if, they don't wish to make a new bargain with us and live alongside us without disturbance then we shall have no choice but to fight them."

"Then I hope we fight them – they deserve to get what's coming to them after everything they've done to us!"

"Raph - let it go! Please – just put your grudge against them aside while we dispose of Marcie. She is our prime problem at the current time."

"But she hasn't caused us nearly as much pain as the Foot Elite."

"We would never have got poisoned and captured if we hadn't trusted her…" Leo muttered softly, almost daring Raph to argue.

"Yeah, well don't blame me for that one. It wasn't my fault and you haven't exactly got a perfect track record when it comes to trusting people, have ya, Leo?" Raph's eyes glowed, knowing he'd just hit a raw nerve with his older brother, but he didn't stop, "I think you'll find that you're bad judgement has caused us the most problems – and if it wasn't for you and your stupid 'I can make the city a better place' attitude then we never would've met Shredder! We might not have had to face him for years!"

"Don't you dare throw that in my face…you know that wasn't my fault entirely!" Leo snapped.

"Oh? Then whose fault was it, fearless leader?" Raph stepped forward to face Leo, "was it Mikey's fault, maybe? Or was it Donnie's fault? Or even my fault? You seem to blame me for most things anyway! Oh, I know! You think Master Splinter's at fault, don't ya? You're too stubborn to admit that you might be wrong and that you ain't the world's greatest creation!"

"You can't talk to me like that!"

"Funny, I just did! Your oh-so-perfect honour ain't always perfect and you gotta learn at some point that you can't force every single person into your single, narrow-minded way of thinking!" Raph was almost as red as his bandana and Mikey swore that he could almost see steam coming out of his temperamental brother's ears!

"Narrow-minded? That's rich coming from someone like you!"

"Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean? Learn to take a few risks, Leo, and learn that the world's problems can't all be solved by peaceful negotiation."

"They could if everyone was willing to be peaceful – but it's hot-heads like you that spoil all that!" Leo was trembling with rage; Raph had hit a part of him that made him angry – at himself, at Raph and even at Splinter.

"Well, not everyone's like that – so wake up, bro, and stop being such a righteous prick!" Raph finished by yelling his final insult so clearly that he spat slightly. Storming out, he left the room behind him in an awkward silence.

"My son," Splinter crossed paths with Raphael in one of the corridors, "you look tired and angry – what is the matter?"

"Nothin', Sensei," mumbled the red-clad turtle.

"I do not believe that, Raphael, and you cannot bottle up your anger every time you fight with Leonardo…"

"…How did you know?"

"…So you shall come with me and talk about it," Splinter took hold of his second eldest son's arm and led him into the room he'd been given to sleep in while they stayed with the human brothers.

"What did you fight about?"

"Leo still thinks this whole situation can be solved by negotiation – I know…think…otherwise. I said some stuff and he said some stuff; I got angry and so did he so I left." Raph summarised the story as quickly as he could.

"What did you say to each other? I can tell by your voice and behaviour that it was not the usual sort of things you say to each other in fights."

"I wanted to cause Ramakha and his brothers as much pain as they caused us and Leo told me to stop holding a grudge and that Marcie was our main priority. So I pointed out that she hasn't caused us nearly as much hurt as the Foot Elite and he said that if we'd never trusted Marcie then we wouldn't have been poisoned…so I…I…" Raph suddenly realised the magnitude of what he'd said to his brother. He was saved from finishing by Splinter, who was tuned into his sons and their ways of thinking.

"You said that had he never been so determined to do some greater good then you would not have had to face the Shredder so early on at so young an age."

"Pretty much, yeah," Raph stared at the ground.

"Raphael, I am very disappointed in you – you know how much those memories hurt your brother. He was not to know any better and you have all matured so much since that time. You would have had to face the Shredder at some point, but fate chose to make it then." Splinter put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I know, Sensei, I just get so angry with him – he's so irritating! And he'll keep his temper with Donnie and Mikey but not with me! As soon as I contradict him then it's straight off with the shouting and trying to pin it all on me."

"Raphael, you are children. You are not of age yet – and it is not a crime to fight with your siblings. You and Leonardo are so alike that your characters clash, aggravated by the few small differences between your way of doing things; he has more self-control than you and is more willing to look into the spiritual side of things and the planning and leadership side of things, whereas you tend to go for the practical approach and acting on the impulsive decisions of everyday life, every moment wasted planning or talking frustrates you. It is this clash of character that makes you such an admirable team when you work together. It is also what has made you care so strongly for each other – all of you share such a strong bond. Michelangelo is the one who has so many times brought you all back from the depths of despair and so from failure. Donatello with his ingenious inventions and incredible knowledge of science and technology has saved you all countless times and has stepped in to prevent your fights with Leonardo from getting violent. Leonardo has led you both into and out of many scrapes and has always made sure that everything is carefully planned, even when under pressure, and he's so dedicated to the spiritual side of training and the practical side. You, Raphael, have a fiery temper that has prevented all three of your brother's from getting too big-headed many a time, and your fiercely protective nature has led you to so many victories in battle and you have often prevented us from running away from battles which we would have run away from."

"But Master Splinter, what about all the times I've really lost my temper and you've told me I should control my anger?" Raph was thoroughly bewildered by now. This was all so much to digest at once.

"You do have an exceptionally bad temper, my son, but it also has its advantages. All four of you have a tendency to under-estimate your abilities. You must learn to appreciate yourselves for what and who you are, not for what you want to improve." Splinter paused and sighed deeply, "I suggest you go and make your peace with Leonardo – don't always wait for him to go after you…good luck."

"Yes, Sensei – thanks, Sensei," Raph bowed and left the room, feeling completely drained mentally,_ Now to try and explain to Leo – I need all the luck I can get!_

**A/N: -** Please Review and I'll update as soon as I can! These are my shout-outs from chapter 12 – if you reviewed then you'll find your answers here…

**Spootycup: -** Oh, believe me – things are going to get a lot more heated between Leo and Raph…and just as Splinter punishing Leo seemed almost impossibility…well, you'll have to read – but I will say that Raph is about to say a word no-one ever thought he would say to Leo! And thank-you for all your reviews.

**BubblyShell22: -** I have to agree – Mikey _is_ a little unique! And his taste in pizza is definitely very odd! Thanks for your review – I'm still not sure exactly who will suffer what fate in the end, although I have almost decided!

**BlueRaven: -** My favourite TMNT? Leo all the way! Who's your fave? I'm really glad you liked it and thanks for the review.

**Lioness-Goddess: - **They do have a big problem! I sometimes wonder if I should give them a vacation – but where would be the fun in that! Heh, thanks for all the reviews over this story!

**Leo Oneal: -** I know what you mean, they haven't had an easy life considering they are so young – I just want to hug them sometimes and make Shredder go away - . But we all know what he's like…! Thanks for the review, I appreciate it.

**Chibi Rose Angel: - **Thank you so much for the kind words – and, just as a warning, if you think BBOTML and this so far is putting them through shell and back then you are gonna hate me in later chapters grins evilly but I can say no more here or it will ruin the surprise!


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**A/N: -** Here is the next chapter – the long-sought after apology from Raph to Leo! The shout-outs are at the end, and now I leave you to read and review.

"Leo?" Donnie approached his brother shortly after Raph left the room, "You…you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine – come on, me and Raph are always fighting."

"He went really out of line this time though," Mikey piped up, "what he said was really unfair!"

"Maybe…maybe not…" Leo replied absent-mindedly, "I should go after him."

"Not this time, Leo," Don stepped in front.

"Yeah, dude, this time he can come back here." Mikey agreed.

"You have to let him apologise to you for once."

"How can we be sure he'll come?" Leo sighed.

"Uh, guys…?" Raph peered round the door and then strode into the room and stopped in front of Leo.

"You're back sooner than usual." Leo remarked icily.

"I met Master Splinter and he pointed a few things out for me…and I'm here to…uh…apologise to…you…" he stuttered over the words.

"Because he told you to,"

"No, because he made me realise that what I said was wrong and I shouldn't have taken it that far."

"Really?" Leo finally made eye contact with his brother, his gaze penetrating Raph's soul and searching it for any signs of a lie.

"I'm sorry, bro…I was wrong to say what I did," Raph scuffed at the floor; Leonardo was going to milk this out for all it was worth.

"Catch me; I think I'm gonna faint!" Mikey joked to Donnie under his breath, "Raph actually admitted that he was wrong – whoa, what alternate reality are we living in?"

"Next thing you know, Leo's going to tell Raph that he had realised how bossy and paranoid he can be at times!" Donnie laughed in return. Mikey's face went deadly serious, although a sparkle in his eyes said he was joking,

"Nah, I wouldn't take it that far…" he made tutting noises and shook his head solemnly.

"So, we're ok?" Raph asked, worried at what Splinter would say if he had to tell him that Leo had not accepted the apology – and, more to the point, he was beginning to wonder if he could keep his temper if his brother answered negatively to this question. There was a long pause and all eyes were fixed on Leo; even Mikey and Don stopped their joking around.

"Yeah, we're ok," Leo answered eventually. Donnie and Mikey let out a long sigh of relief and exchanged small smiles with each other. Raph nodded silently and walked off, leaving Leo staring after him.

"What are you doing out here?" Leo asked as he joined his hot-headed brother on the rooftop.

"Nothing – getting some time to myself," Raph paused, "you do it too!"

"I never said I didn't. I just asked what you were doing, that's all."

"If you must know, I was trying to think of a way to trick the Shredder's brothers into thinking they've killed us when actually they haven't…do you see what I mean?"

"Bro…" Leo started, almost smiling.

"What?"

"Leave the fancy plans to me. We tried that trick with the Shredder, remember, and it won't keep us safe for ever. We'll talk to them tomorrow and see if we can come to an agreement."

"Fine; but I just wanted to buy us some time." Raph scowled.

"I know – but buying time isn't enough any more. We can't run forever. Look where running got us last time! We were too tired to continue; our bodies and minds were weary and we couldn't muster the strength to effectively defeat Shredder without…consequences…" Leo sighed.

"You sound like Master Splinter," Raph muttered.

"That's not always a bad thing, bro. It has to be better than taking on Marcie's type of attitude!"

"Hey," a voice said behind the two turtles, "Donnie and I were wondering if we could join you…"

"Sure," Leo replied, as Donnie sat down next to him while Mikey walked over and sat the other side of Raph.

"Hey, goofball," Raph greeted his youngest brother.

"I'm not a goofball!" Mikey protested but, seeing the look on his three brothers' faces, shrugged, "oh well, better than acting like a bad-tempered old woman," he grinned smugly.

"Ooh, you're asking for it now!" Raph grabbed his brother in a headlock and gave him a bap round the head.

"Ow! What was that for? I wasn't just talking about you!"

"Yeah, well I was included!" Raph released his brother and looked out across New York City, lit up as it always was at night time.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to just enjoy life for what it is?" Donnie suddenly piped up.

"I don't know," Leo chose to reply, "I guess if we get rid of Marcie and the Shredder's brothers then maybe. But we never seem to get a break, so we're permanently running the risk of something else coming up and wreaking havoc."

"Yeah, dudes, I mean, we haven't exactly had a normal life, have we?"

"Come on, Mikey – when you're a mutant turtle then you _know_ life ain't never gonna be simple. We're always going to be hunted – the Shredder was too widely known and supported."

"Raph's right," Donnie cut his red-clad brother off, "we'll never truly escape from the Shredder's evil clutches: he's played far too big a part in our lives. If it weren't for him and Baxter Stockman then we would never have met April. If it wasn't for Hun and the Purple Dragons then we wouldn't have met Casey. Sensei would never have avenged his Master Yoshi's death – the list goes on,"

"And he's killed so many innocent people – and changed them too," Mikey grimaced.

"Yeah," Donnie continued once more, "Look at Baxter Stockman. He was a genius, an incredibly talented scientist, until the Shredder manipulated him and bribed him with rewards he was never going to hand out."

"Not to mention all the Foot ninjas – some of them can't have been that much older than us, can they? I mean, if their fathers were Foot before them so they were trained early or something – dude, does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense, Mikey, although I don't really like to think of how many people's lives he's had an impact on, and barely any of it good. The only person who ever benefited from him was Karai." Donnie scratched his head, bewildered by how many examples of the Shredder's handiwork and influence he could think of.

"And don't forget Master Splinter. Master Yoshi was killed by the Shredder and our Sensei was left scavenging for leftovers. And Master Yoshi was killed for being honourable and daring to stand against the Shredder when very few others did, and he died for it. That was almost our fate…" Raph trailed off.

"Gives me the shivers," Leo shuddered involuntarily, "I'm never going to forget him. Every moment we spent suffering by his hands is etched so deeply into my memory that I don't think it will ever erase itself."

"But he is a part of your history, my sons," Splinter was standing directly behind Mikey, having arrived in the true stealthy fashion of the ninja, "You cannot simple change the past – that is impossible. However, you can learn from the mistakes and wounds of the past. You cannot remove the scars, but you can use them to serve as reminders of what has been and gone and what you have survived. This is one of the most important, and one of the hardest, lessons you will ever have to learn," Splinter put a hand on Mikey's head and looked fondly at his four sons, who were all staring back at him, wide-eyed as the carefree children they once were, before experiencing situations meant only for those far older, "and I think you have finally learnt it."

The next morning arrived; the rain was falling, spattering noisily on the ground. Wind howled and whistled through the trees and the clouds were leaden, heavy with the rain that heralded the doom of at least one of the three groups who would be involved in the day's fight. The sky was blackened, and every second seemed to last a lifetime – an eternity longer than it should have lasted. Standing alone on the rooftop, watching for signs of Marcie and whatever forces would accompany her, was Ramakha.

"We shall be ready," he whispered as he caught sight of Marcie's glinting armour, an exact replica of what Shredder had worn into battle, "you will face us in combat, and we will be ready…"

"Ramakha," Roshiri's voice was harsh, the rain masking it out for the most part so it was barely more than a muffled whisper that reached Ramakha's ears. Whirling round to face him, hair whipping his face as it was blown about by the wind; he smiled wanly at his brother, who continued, "What have you seen?"

"Our enemy is fast approaching."

"What forces does she have?"

"Hun, her family – the men of it, at least – and other warriors who I do not recognise. I do not think we have had dealings with them before."

"Then it starts now." Roshiri lowered his gaze to the floor, "today we shall have our fate, and that of our allies, decided."

"You guys ready?" Raph asked the human brothers.

"As ready as we are ever going to be," Ronald replied solemnly, receiving a small smile from the red-clad turtle.

"Where's Casey?" Mikey suddenly piped up as he followed his brothers to stand just outside the entrance to the Foot Headquarters.

"Still trying to convince April that she should stay out of this: he's telling her that we'll need her to patch up any of us that are wounded."

"You think she'll stay?"

"Well, it took a while, but yeah, I have convinced her," Casey arrived at the scene, already looking exhausted.

"She has been shown where the medicines and supplies are, I presume?" Reginald inquired, as Marcie and her forces were spotted at the base of the Foot HQ.

"She knows where everything is…so I guess this is it," Casey took a long, slow breath and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself a little.

"They must first get past our traps. If they do so, then we shall fight them---"

"I shall claim the life of Hun," snarled Ramakha, his face worn, the lines on it seemed to be deeply etched in as a reminder of the torment and the memories, "none other shall have that honour."

"Of course, my brother," Roshiri placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and nodded to the watching Leonardo, who bowed in return before stepping forward to him.

"After this battle is over, we once more shall become bitter enemies. But I would have you know, that should you need our alliance, our aid in future battles – then you should perhaps reconsider our bargain. If not, then it has been an honour, truly, to fight alongside you. And we can only ask one favour…"

"And what is that?" Ronald raised an eyebrow suspicious.

"That should I or one of my family members die in this battle, you will allow sufficient mourning time before you pursue the remains of the family. For surely that is the honourable thing to do," Leo was keeping direct eye-contact with Roshiri, who stared directly back at him.

"We shall allow mourning time – the amount of time will be determined on how many are killed," Roshiri paused as Ramakha stepped forward until he was only inches from Leonardo.

"Should more than one of you die then our vendetta will be lifted…you shall go free. For I too know the pain of losing a family; I would not wish that torture on anyone. Do we have an agreement?" he held out his hand.

"We have an agreement." Leo took Ramakha's hand and their eyes met, both determined and with their honour burning deeply within them; and there was a brief moment of true understanding. They broke the handshake and turned back to face where Marcie's forces had encountered the first of the traps. She made it past the spikes, nets and pits with no problem; their last defence was the boulder. Pushing with all their might, Ronald, Donnie, Casey and Raph rolled it down the path. Hun stood in front of Marcie and the other fighters and braced himself. Marcie and the others fled back down the path as the boulder rammed into Hun. He skidded back down the path, slowing the boulder as it tried to continue its destructive rampage. But Hun managed to turn it and it was flung off the edge of the wall. The enemy began running up the hill again, and the turtles, humans and rat readied themselves for battle. The last Marcie would ever fight in, if they achieved the victory they so sorely desired.

**A/N: -** Ok, here are the shout-outs!

**Lioness-Goddess: - **Low being an understatement – and you will find out what the brothers do…eventually! Oh, and you will hate the end of the next chappie!

**Spootycup****: - **Raph apologising – there ya go…it happened! I'm glad you like this!

**Chibi**** Rose Angel: - **Thank you so much for more kind words – I really appreciate the boost! The boys will be through shell and back and the next chapter will be the worst cliffy so far – but I'll say no more.

**BubblyShell22: - **Thanks for your review, and there will be a lot more episode references – when they've finished showing the latest series here in England!

**Donny's Girl: - **I'm so glad you luv the ficcy! And I don't think Raph will slit Leo's throat yet – but who knows what the future holds?

**BlueRaven****: - **Lol, that's a good image – heh heh, I wouldn't kill them…this early…


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**A/N: -** IMPORTANT! Ok, the shout-outs are at the beginning of this chapter because I know that by the time you reach the end, I want the full impact of what happens to be recognised. One thing I will ask is that you do not stop reading this story because of what happens – remember what happened last time, and also that nothing is one hundred percent certain until it is proven with evidence. Therefore there will be no Author's Note at the end either – yes, you party now, but you won't be by the end, trust me…

**Lioness-Goddess: -** Oh Shell, LG, I am SO sorry for this – I really didn't know how to do this but the story just came out. And like I said in the author's note above, nothing is ever certain. Thank you as always for your reviews and I hope you do not kill me for this…

**Spootycup****: -** Lol, your reviews always make me smile! Raph will do more grovelling…but not to one of his brothers!

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**BlueRaven****: -** A death? Moi? Never…evil grin

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**Leo O'Neal: -** Advice – do NOT stop reading, whatever happens…things are not always what they seem…but some things may be…and I am with you on Leo being THE BEST!

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**Chibi**** Rose Angel: -** Was this one of the possibilities? I'd be interested to know…thanks for the review and what does KUDOS mean?

**Madvy****: -** Thank you so much for reviewing – it's always nice to get the occasional new reviewer – you will soon see just how…bad…the brothers are! And Leo does rock!

"This is it, guys – good luck!" Leo grinned at his brothers and at the human brothers. He then glanced back at Splinter and inclined his head at him, "Sensei, we do this for you and we do it for Master Yoshi,"

"My sons, I will not lie to you – this is going to be possibly the most dangerous fight of your lives – and you must be prepared for the worst." Splinter addressed his sons for the final time before the fight would begin, "I am so proud of all of you."

"Well, look what we have here," Marcie had reached the top, a little out of breath but with a large number of fighters behind her, "rather a ragged bunch, aren't we? I have to say that I wasn't expecting you to evade me for so long, but I can assure you that you will not live through this fight,"

"Try us – that's what the Shredder said to us every time we went into battle and now he's rotting in the bottom of the river!" Leo snarled at her.

"You will go first!" Marcie snapped, throwing a shruiken in Leo's direction. He deflected it with his katana and both sides ran in for close combat. The sound of metal on metal rang out clear as a bell, carried out over the city by the strong wind. The rain drowned out their ragged breathing as they fought, both sides equally matched in ability. Neither side would win on skill so it was down to numbers, tactics or downright cheating.

"Raph, look out!" Donnie yelled above the sounds of the battle as tens of ninja stars were thrown in all directions with Raph directly in the line of fire. Said turtle threw himself to the floor as there were too many to deflect with his Sais.

"Thanks for the warning, bro," Raph laughed nervously as he leapt to his feet again and continued his battle with Marcie's father.

"You will pay for the distress you've caused my daughter!" The man snarled.

"Not before she pays for the distress she's caused my family," Raph retorted viciously as he took another swipe at the father of the woman he despised so deeply.

"We'll see about that," muttered Marcie's father as he slashed at Raph once more with his blade, drawing a thin line of crimson blood from the upper-arm of the enraged turtle in red.

Meanwhile, only ten feet away, Leonardo was still in his heated battle with Marcie. They were fighting with incredible skill and precision, neither one causing any damage to the physical body but instead battering the spirit and the strengths of their minds.

"You have met your match, turtle – tonight you meet your doom."

"You sound so much like the Shredder that I'm beginning to wonder if you are two different people or the same person in different guises!" Leo panted as he dodged another of Marcie's swift attacks.

"That is a compliment, young one. It is a shame that I am being forced to kill mere children, but it cannot be helped." She threw a well aimed left uppercut at Leo and knocked him backwards. She raised her sword to bring it down on the defenceless turtle's skull when a mint green blur came at her from the side, sending her sprawling. Pounding her fists on the ground, she looked up to see the turtle whom she had intended to kill first when she first captured all four of them; Michelangelo was offering a hand to his brother and both turtles, once on their feet, exchanged brief words and seemed to make eye contact with the one known as Donatello. Raphael was still far too engaged in a battle with Marcie's own father so Donatello tapped Reginald on the shoulder and he nodded to the turtles, smiling, before also advancing on Marcie, "you wouldn't kill me, surely – I have five young children – Kirsty, Owen, Peter, Alice and Benny – they would become orphans." Marcie pleaded, making it as convincing as possible.

"Then they would be sent to an orphanage where they would receive care from those fit to be considered as parent-figures," Reginald spat harshly.

"How dare you imply that I don't know how to raise my own children!"

"Well, raising them in a world of violence and hatred is tough enough as it is, Marcie, so why did you make it harder for yourself by getting involved with Shredder and putting them at risk – it's heartless and wrong."

"I don't care – they're my kids and I will not be dictated to!" Marcie searched desperately for a way out of her situation – all four of her opponents were set to kill her and so she did the only thing that might have worked; she turned on the waterworks, "nobody knows what it's like! They've lost the closest thing they had to a father," she stammered, "and now they'll lose me as well. Oh, why is fate so cruel?"

"It's not working, Marcie," Leo rolled his eyes, though his voice wasn't as certain as it normally was when addressing an opponent. He moved forward slightly, katana at the ready, and stopped just before Marcie, who was now on her knees.

"Please, don't kill me – the vendetta is lifted," she thought back over what Shredder had said of the leader, "on my honour – I swear on my honour and on the lives of my children that I shall not come after you again…" she kept her face emotionless. Leo was torn as to what to do; this wasn't just anything she was swearing on – it was honour and life.

"Leo, what are you hesitating for?" Raph hissed to his brother, "kill her now and have done with it!"

"Raph, she swears on her honour and on the lives of her children – who would swear on such things unless it was an honest and meaningful promise…?" Leo trailed off, his katana still hovering uncertainly above Marcie's bowed head.

"She's a lying, deceitful swine who doesn't deserve to live – she would let her kids die and you know it."

"I suppose…" Leo bit his lip.

"How can you be sure?" Marcie began again, "why would I kill the most important things in life for the sake of destroying a few lizards?"

"Turtles," Mikey corrected hurriedly.

"Whatever, they're all the same to me." Marcie shrugged, "as I was saying, my children are the only thing keeping me in the realms of sanity and they are the thread of hope I'm clinging to as I struggle with depression! Please, don't take me away from them or them away from me! I swear on all I hold dear!"

"I…I…" Leo faltered, his hands shaking as he fought to keep his authority over the trembling Marcie. After a few moments' thought, he lowered his Katana,

"Prove it."

"What?" Marcie raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean prove it? How do I prove it?"

"By getting up and dropping all your weapons, holding your hands out and letting yourself be bound by the wrists."

"Very well," Marcie stood up slowly and dropped her weapons. She held her wrists out and Reginald handed Leo a strip of strong cloth to bind her wrists. But as he went to tie her up, he kicked his Katana out of his hands and punched him in the face, followed by a roundhouse kick which sent him sprawling. She jumped, blade raised, to kill him with a final strike. Mikey yelped and barrelled into her, knocking her sideways. He jumped to his feet and ran back over to Leo, helping him up.

"Thanks, Mikey – another mistake on my part." Leo smiled sheepishly.

"Nah, I enjoyed that – I felt like a comic book superhero!" Mikey beamed widely. Marcie's father suddenly roared and began throwing tens of Shruiken at every single one of his enemies. Leo scrambled around for his Katana and Mikey beat off the Ninja Stars with his Nunchuks. Donnie's Bo staff was pierced by at least five Shruiken and Raph had deflected many of the flying Ninja Stars with his Sais. He had been stood where Leo's Katana had landed and he jumped back in shock as his brother suddenly appeared beside him.

"You ok, bro?" he asked, almost laughing.

"Yeah, fine – just made another bad judgement, that's all."

"Yeah, so what else is new?" Raph joked, ignoring Leo's withering glare in his direction at that comment.

"Watch it, Raphy-boy," Leo hit his brother lightly round the head as they threw themselves to the ground to avoid the next round of the Shruiken, flying in all directions. One narrowly skimmed Raph's head as the two turtles crawled over to their brothers, Splinter, Casey and the human brothers to re-group for another attempt to kill Marcie.

"No more mercy," Ramakha growled to Leo, glaring at him accusingly, "we kill her this time…no more hesitation."

"Hey, lay off already," Donnie stepped in to defend his brother, "everyone makes mistakes sometimes."

"Whatever," Ramakha scowled, "let's go."

"Operation killing Marcie…" Mikey began.

"Followed by operation save our shells," Leo added wryly.

"You got it, bro," Raph laughed, thankful for the momentary release of tension. Each turtle launched themselves at Marcie and her forces one after the other, followed by the brothers, and began fighting them vigorously once more. But Marcie had just one more surprising move up her sleeves.

Letting out a fierce battle cry, she leapt into the air above the turtles' heads and flung a handful of powder at the ground, shielding her own eyes. Temporarily blinded by the powder and unable to breathe, the turtles and their human allies choked and spluttered as they lashed out at anything that moved in a desperate attempt to keep Marcie from slipping out of their grasp.

"We have…to get…her…before she gets…away!" Leo's voice was raspy as he talked to who he hoped was one of his brothers.

"No kidding!" Mikey spluttered in reply, "but how do…we…manage that?"

"Haven't quite figured…that one out yet, Mikey," Leo bit his lip, still unable to see anything but glad that he had tracked down at least one of his brothers.

"Ok…but hurry – I don't know how much longer…I can stand this!"

"No fear, bro…I have just had a brainwave…"

"Don't you always?" Raph's rough voice coughed from a little way behind Leo.

"Wait a minute," Leo tried to open his eyes but the powder made them stream and burn so he kept them clamped shut, "isn't Donnie with you?"

"No…" Raph choked, "haven't seen him…"

"I think I felt someone near my foot…a minute ago…before I found Leo…" Mikey staggered away from his two eldest brothers and fell to the floor, crawling around and hoping to bump into something before he crawled right off the edge of the wall and fell into the forest below!

"Donatello!" Ramakha grabbed the turtle-in-purple's shell and whirled him round, "where are your brothers?"

"I was about…to ask you the same…question, Ramakha!" Donnie replied quickly.

"My brothers are nowhere in sight," Ramakha pushed something into Donnie's hands, "here, put this on. It will help you breathe easier and you will be able to see after a few minutes."

"Thanks," Donnie grinned as he donned the gas mask and goggles and felt the fresh, clean air flow into his body, instantly clearing his head and mind of everything else around him for a brief moment of relief and bliss.

"Not a problem. My brothers have them too – we carry them in case we are attacked. Your friend, Casey has one too as we gave him one earlier but we did not want Marcie to think us too prepared."

"Good thinking – now," Don blinked several times as his vision began to clear, "let's find my brothers."

"I heard something over there…" Ramakha pointed in the direction from which he'd heard voices but seconds before.

"Then that's where we head, isn't it?"

"Donnie? Dude, where the shell are you?" Mikey grumbled as he continued to crawl along the ground. His hand suddenly slipped and he yelped in surprise, realising he had almost fallen off the edge of the wall. Hearing something moving behind him in a sort of shuffle, he turned and rose up onto his knees, still unable to open his eyes but reaching out in front of him. Sure enough, someone was heading his way but he didn't see them until they tripped over him.

"What the---" the voice cursed.

"Dude? Hello?" Mikey's voice shook a little, now nervous of whom it was – if he wasn't very much mistaken, that voice had been female. And the only female present at this battle was Marcie as April, he hoped, was still inside the Foot HQ.

"Ah ha – found one of you green freaks at last!" Marcie's silky voice sniggered.

"Uh-oh," Mikey mumbled, "I'm in serious trouble now…"

"You got that right," a gruffer voice snarled; Marcie's father.

"You will not live past the next three minutes." Marcie continued.

"Uh…why not?" dared Michelangelo.

"Because I will kill you!" Marcie's father launched himself at Mikey but the turtle kicked him off and over to somewhere the other side of the battle area.

"Why you insolent little reptile…" Marcie's voice grew steadily louder and she threw herself at the surprised Michelangelo and the two began scuffling dangerously close to the edge.

Falling to the floor with a 'thud', Leo groaned as he tried to force off whoever had just flown through the air at him, bowling him over. As he got up and brushed himself off, he realised that the smoke was beginning to clear and he could just about make out blurry shapes and patches of colour.

"Hey, it's Marcie's Dad," Raph prodded the prone form on the floor.

"We'll take him captive," a voice greeted them, "and he shall be out hostage."

"Ramakha!" Leo exclaimed.

"And guess who?" another voice laughed.

"Donnie? Thank shell you're ok – I guess Mikey found you then, huh?"

"Mikey didn't find me…" Donnie trailed off.

"But he went looking for you – that means he's still off somewhere!" Leo gasped in a mixture of horror, disbelief and utter despair, "ok, we can almost see clearly now so let's fan out and find him. If we're lucky then we'll find Casey, Roshiri, Reginald and Ronald while we're at it."

"I hope so," Ramakha sighed, "I really hope so."

Marcie and Mikey were almost too tangled up to tell one apart from the other; every time one got the upper hand they would slip-up in some way or another and allow their opponent the chance to get back into the battle and take advantage.

"Let go of me!" Marcie shrieked as Mikey tugged at her hair.

"You let go of me first!" he retorted as she repeatedly pounded at his shell.

"I'm not stupid!" Marcie yelled back.

"Well, neither am I…no matter what Leo and Raph say!"

"MIKEY! GET AWAY FROM THERE!" a bellow erupted from about five yards away.

"What?" Mikey looked up, kicking Marcie off and realising he could now see again. Raph was stood a little way back pointing frantically behind Mikey. Looking round, the orange-clad turtle jumped up and backed off; he had been about ten centimetres from plummeting to a very premature death, "thanks, bro," he inhaled deeply, "nearly caused a calamity there – turtle pancakes, yuck!"

"Always the comedian," Raph smiled to himself, silently thankful that his little brother was unharmed, although he would never admit it to anyone, least of all Mikey.

"You thought you had beaten me?" Marcie reappeared, battered, dishevelled and almost beaten, approaching Mikey with a fiery glare in her eyes.

"Keep away from him – you knock him off and you'll both be killed!" Raph warned, eyes darting from Mikey to Marcie and back again more times than could have been natural, especially considering it was Raph.

"Silence, lizard!" Marcie flicked her wrist and a miniature Shruiken spun round in the air and lodged itself in Raph's upper arm. He cried out and looked down to his shoulder, not noticing that Marcie had taken her chance and thrown herself at Mikey, letting loose a last handful of powder as she went.

"RAPH? MIKEY?" Leo's panicked voice rose above the noise of Marcie's now chaotic troops, who were fast fleeing down the hillside. There was no answer from either of his brothers; Raph was knelt down, crawling over to the edge to try and see Mikey and said youngest turtle was nowhere in sight. The last glimpse Raph had caught of him, before the powder had obscured his vision, was of his brother and Marcie tumbling over the edge, still fighting…

The smoke cleared enough to see in five minutes as there had been less than last time and Raph heard someone, perhaps more than one person, moving nearby. Thinking it to be Marcie's father and troops, he lashed out and swept them off their feet and over the edge,

"Raph, you idiot!" a voice called from just over the edge, "what the shell do you think you're doing?" Scooting over a little and glancing over the edge, he saw Leo clinging to a rock that jutted out slightly and Donnie was clutching Leo's Foot.

"Sorry, thought you were Marcie's troops. Hey, Donnie, can you see Mikey?" Raph called down as he leant over to grab Leo's hand.

"No…why?"

"Raph, what happened to Mikey?" Leo asked worriedly, taking his brother's hand and then, once safely up, pulling Donnie up behind him.

"He went over with Marcie. She tackled him and they fell," Raph looked down over the edge once more.

"No…" Donnie trailed off, a lump in his throat; his youngest brother had gone over the edge with their enemy and could be dead.

"You're sure he went over?" Leo tried to remain calm, in spite of the incensed panic that was welling up and overpowering him from inside out.

"Positive," Raph's voice was barely a whisper. He looked into his older brother's face and saw Leo's eyes searching his own for any trace of what might be an extremely bad practical joke on Mikey's part. Leonardo's gaze intensified and Raph eventually had to look away as Leo realised that Raph had been telling the truth.

"Mikey's gone?"

"Gone, yes," a gruff voice laughed, pulling the Shruiken out of Raph's arm and causing the turtle to bite back a scream, "and he's taken my precious daughter with him – they have both fallen to their deaths!"

"No, they haven't," Leo's eyes almost seemed to glow with emotions that were far beyond his control, "you lie!"

"I speak the truth – as truth you saw in your beloved brother's eyes," Marcie's father scoffed at Raph, who was having his arm checked over by Donnie; Raph's face was stony and Donnie's movements were gentle but mechanical.

"YOU LIE!" Leo screeched, raising his Katana and bringing it down upon the man's head, a sickening crack echoing over the now silent courtyard outside the Foot Headquarters. Marcie's father froze and dropped to the cold ground, blood bubbling out of a crack in his head, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. Leo had also frozen, his face shocked and a man dying by his hand. But it was not the killing that had scared him – it was that he felt no guilt. No guilt for someone who had not attacked him. No guilt for a man that needn't have died. No guilt for another who had just lost a loved one. He felt nothing; nothing in the empty, black, bottomless void that opened inside his innermost soul. As the life of Marcie's father ebbed away, the death rattle escaping his body, Leo remained still, locking away what had just happened in a vault deep inside his heart.

"Leonardo?" Reginald's horrified voice queried, "Is Marcie dead?"

"She is dead." Leo stated in monotone, "but so is Mikey…"


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**A/N: -** Ok, shout-outs at the end this time – no nasty cliff-hanger this time, which is one good thing to look forward to! Enough drivel for now and I will let you read…and review – I appreciate every single one and I really enjoy reading them; they make me all warm and tingly inside and they have cheered me up several times in the past!

"We will keep our end of the agreement," Roshiri's voice was almost kind, but not quite.

"Our honour binds us to allow you sufficient mourning time for your brother." Ramakha added, his voice far gentler and more understanding that Roshiri's was.

"How long shall you give us?" Splinter sighed, his remaining three sons either not present or unable to speak.

"A week," Roshiri answered coldly.

"One week?" Splinter fought to keep himself in control, "for the loss of a son, brother and friend?"

"Roshiri…"

"No, Ramakha – I do not see why they should be allowed so much time when we have not yet even mourned for our brother!"

"Very well," Splinter agreed, "and now, I shall take my sons and return home." He left the room.

"You would give them no more time? Are none of you in agreement with me on this subject?" Ramakha looked incredulously at his three brothers.

"Sorry, I'm with Roshiri," Reginald shrugged.

"Me too – sorry, Ramakha," Ronald cast his eyes down to the floor, unable to make eye contact with his brother.

"One week – then we can finally get our revenge." Roshiri grinned maliciously.

"One week indeed…" Ramakha trailed off sadly.

"I am sorry for your loss – and sorry that my brothers would not bid you farewell, but to them the allegiance has already been lifted and they do not wish to tempt themselves into anything rash and honour-breaking." Ramakha shook the hand of each turtle, Casey and Splinter before kissing April's hand fondly, much to the disgust of her husband.

"Do not trouble yourself with it," Splinter inclined his head, "come, my sons, we must go home and grieve."

"Thank-you for all you and your brothers have done for us," April managed as the four turtles walked away in silence.

"Yeah, you guys aren't half bad considering you're related to Shredder!" Casey added in an undertone, but Ramakha heard him and smiled.

"I will have you know that we will not come after you – you had no major part in my brother's death," he saw Casey make to disagree and motioned for him to stay silent, "that my brothers shall know of. To them, you are irrelevant and do not deserve to die – take care of yourselves and good luck for your future, may it be a happier one than your friends are about to endure."

"Bye, Ramakha," Casey waved and he and April ran to catch up with their reptilian friends and their master.

"My sons, you will grieve for your brother, knowing that he is dead – and I ask of you, do not be pressured into going back to training too quickly," he glanced at Leo, "or to taking out your anger on others who do not deserve it," he looked to Raph, "or locking yourself away so that you do not need to face the outside world," he raised a furry eyebrow at Donnie. April and Casey had left about five minutes after they'd arrived back, deciding the turtles needed to be on their own for a while.

"Master Splinter…" Donnie spoke for the first time since the end of the battle, "how long do we have before they come after us?"

"One week."

"A week! That's it! Well, you know what? I hope they find us! I hope they find us and I hope we can rip them apart!" Raph snarled.

"Raph, stop…" Leo's soft voice interrupted; he sounded defeated, more so than any time before when they'd suffered greatly.

"No, Leo, I won't stop!" Raph stood up and faced Leo, who stayed sat down. Leo pushed him aside and made to walk out of the room but Raph whirled him round and went to punch him in the face, expecting his older brother to block the attack. But Leo didn't block it. A bruise had already begun to swell up just above Leo's left eye ridge, navy blue and ugly, yet another reminder of Raph's temper. Splinter stood up and put a hand on Raph's shoulder.

"Raphael, this is exactly what I mean – your brothers are hurting too, do not forget that, and you must not take your anger out on them!"

"Argh, does no-one understand me?" he went to leave the room. Donnie stood up and ran to his workshop while Leo stood face to face with his Sensei.

"I can't believe he's gone," Splinter's eldest son bit his lip, voice cracking.

"My son, go and rest – clean up your face and then rest." Splinter sighed; retreating to his own room to mourn for his youngest son, knowing that to grieve in front of his remaining sons would cause them even greater distress. Leo sighed but did not go to clean up the trickle of blood running down his face. Instead, he walked slowly towards Raph's room and cautiously opened the door.

"I do," he stated quietly, stepping inside.

"You do what?" Raph snapped back, surveying the mess that was his room; he'd already managed to throw several large objects around, even with one arm bandaged and in a sling, and his Sais were sticking out of holes in the floor.

"Understand you."

"I know," Raph got up and faced his brother, this time without anger.

"Do you?"

"I do," Raph managed a weak smiled, "you'd better clean that up," he mumbled, gesturing at the bruise.

"No, I'll leave it."

"Then I will have to clean it up," Raph grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him out to the bathroom. Once they reached it, Raph shoved his brother inside, "for once, Leonardo, you do not know what it best," he muttered sourly as he found some antiseptic wipes and cleaned the blackish bruise on Leo's face, with much protesting from his brother. Raph's hands had been filthy so there was a lot of dirt on the bruise and in the small cut that went with it. Even that, if left untended, could get nasty. Finishing with the wipe, he tried to get Leo to agree to have a pad taped over it but his brother just got up and left without a word. Swearing under his breath, using every colourful word under the sun, Raph kicked the wall a hundred times at least before stalking back to his room, furious at everything and with everyone.

In his workshop, Donnie was preparing a few essential items and putting them in a bag. As he zipped up the bag and slung it over his shoulder, he shut his eyes and whispered to no-one in particular,

"I'm sorry – this is just something I have to do,"

"What are you doing?" Leo's voice came from the doorway and Donnie's courage was dampened instantly by his eldest brother's appearance. Leo's arms were folded and his posture indicated that he was every bit his old self, but his face told a different story.

"Nothing," Donnie spoke hurriedly. He was scared by the dullness in Leo's eyes; there wasn't even a spark of happiness or hope in them and Donnie was spurred on by it. He never thought he would wish it, but he would give anything to get his big brother's bossiness and his domineering ways back, along with Mikey's warmth…and his life.

"What are you doing?" Leo repeated five minutes later, not able to bear the silence any longer.

"Nothing," Donnie's reply stayed the same as it had been before.

"You can't lie to me – where are you going?"

"Back to the Foot HQ," Donnie finally relented, sighing as he stared at the wall slightly to the left of Leo.

"Why?" his brother persisted.

"Because I need to search the forests; find out what really happened and whether Mikey is really…you know…_dead_" he hissed the last word so quietly and dejectedly that Leo could barely hear it. So this was how Mikey and Raph had felt when they'd thought he and Donnie to be dead – except this was different – Mikey _was_ dead and the four human brothers of the Shredder really were now against them.

"You're looking for a body?" Leo's voice held wariness and sadness.

"Or something to show me the truth…I know you want the truth, Leo – I've seen it in your eyes." Donnie made direct eye contact with his brother, who stared back resolutely.

"Evidence, yes…I have to get evidence...but what if one of us is killed. So soon after Mikey's dead, the family wouldn't last. I'm not sure if we'll even pull through it this time!" Leo became more and more agitated with each word. Allowing a tiny smile to creep across his features, Donnie held out an extra, already packed, bag.

"I had a feeling you would come with me, even before you arrived here."

"You know me too well," Leo concluded, also allowing himself to smile briefly, before sinking back into the realisation that he'd just lost his youngest brother. And, although he hadn't even been anywhere near the edge when it happened, he couldn't help but think that it was his fault, in part even if not in full.

"And I also know that you will be blaming yourself for this for the rest of your life…" Donnie added quietly, seeing the sombre look on his eldest brother's face.

"Which is stupid," a new voice came from the doorway, weary with grief and eyes red-rimmed.

"Hey, Raph…" Leo mumbled sheepishly.

"You don't think you're getting this evidence without me, do ya?" Raph put an arm round Donnie as he packed himself another bag, "besides, Donnie, you wouldn't be able to tackle Leo in the state he's in – and you're in no better state."

"Neither are you…" Leo trailed off uncertainly.

"I know," Raph smiled nervously, "I know."

"My sons, where are you going?" Splinter asked them as they left the lair.

"To find out the truth," Leo answered softly.

"I shall not stop you – but please, I beg of you all, be careful – I can lose no more of you…"

"Yes, Master Splinter," Leo bowed half-heartedly and his brothers followed his example. That was when he saw that Master Splinter had been crying; crying for the loss of his youngest. That meant that Mikey was almost certainly dead – now what little hope Leo had clung on to about finding his brother was gone, vanished in a few short and miserable seconds of looking into a Father's eyes.

Leo took several deep, shuddering breaths as the Foot HQ appeared in his line of sight. He bit back tears and, were it not for the comforting hands on his shoulders and the knowledge that Raph was there, ready to catch him if he fell, he would have almost certainly been dragged into a deep pit of depression long before now.

"Well, we're here," he forced the words out as smoothly as he could manage.

"Yeah," Raph gulped from behind him.

"What are we going to look for?" Donnie asked his oldest brother. Leo cast his eyes down to the floor, desperate tears welling up and spilling over. Shocked, Donnie looked to Raph but he too was crying. Through blurred vision, Donnie repeated his question, but more slowly.

"A body…" Leo whispered, regaining his composure as convincingly as he could manage and with as much determination as he could muster.

"And possibly Mikey's Nunchuks – I would feel a little better about it if we could get them back." Raph tried to hide the emotion in his voice. Mikey would never have let him live that down…were he alive to hear it.

"And we have to find Marcie's body," Leo added.

"Marcie's body?" Donnie sniffed.

"In case she's not actually dead,"

"Oh – well, what order do we do things in?"

"We look for Mikey first – chances are, when we find him, we find Marcie anyway. After all, they went…they went over the edge together," Leo struggled to talk about the death of his brother. The three of them shared a look and then strode into the forest the side of the path up to the Foot HQ that Mikey would have landed in.

"Ok, guys, we're looking for anything that might give us a clue as to the whereabouts of Mikey."

"And don't forget the Booby-traps," Donnie reminded them, grabbing Raph's arm and pulling him back as he was about to step onto a loop of rope that would have forced him up into the hair and hung him upside down.

"Right and please be careful," Leo pleaded with his two brothers, "you heard what Master Splinter said – and you can't tell me you didn't see the look on his face when he said that."

"I know what you mean," Raph sighed sorrowfully, "he looked as though he thought Mikey wasn't going to be found – and I think he knows something we don't."

"Like what?" Leo inquired, curiosity lining his features.

"Like he knows what happened to Marcie – and I think he thinks that we won't be coming back or something. He thinks we'll die out here."

"He was frightened," Leo spoke softly and hoarsely.

"Frightened?" Donnie even looked a little scared at that news.

"Frightened of losing any more of us. He said he could lose no more of us and he really looked like he thought he might." Leo finished his explanation.

"It's sickening…and I really don't know what I might do if I lost either of you – losing Mikey hurts way too much already." Raph looked worriedly at his brothers.

"I know – let's get this over with." Leo walked into the forest, his brothers following quickly.

**A/N: -** Here is your shout-outs and I hope you enjoyed the chappie – now review for me and I will respond in my next chapter: -

**Leo Oneal: -** Mikey has not re-appeared as of yet – but hold your breath because you may see a glimmer of hope soon.

**Chibi**** Rose Angel: -** Calm down – I certainly do NOT get a kick out of killing him – quite the opposite – I HATE doing it. But the fact of the matter is that he isn't actually…well, I'll stop there, shall I? ;-)

**Spootycup****: -** Not hanging _onto_ a rock…

**Madvy****: -** Thank ye kindly for your review and you will find out the fate of Mikey soon enough.

**BlueRaven: -** I know Mikey's death is a nasty thing to do – but take note of my evil smiles and also take note that there isn't one here!

**Lioness-Goddess: -** Your reviews make me smile every time, even when I kill Mikey you still manage to make me laugh! Don't be too sad – there's still hope, for the moment.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**A/N: -** Well, here we go, everyone. I haven't got any waffle to go through today…so enjoy the chapter and have a shell-of-a-lot of fun reading it. Please, please, please review for me – they make me very happy and I can't wait to read them.

As they forced their way through the thick undergrowth of the forest, their hopes of finding their little brother became more and more distant. They had already nearly run into seven booby traps and all seven times it had been the quick eyes of Donnie that had prevented there being a disaster, with his knowledge of how to disable traps without anyone getting hurt. But disaster had yet to strike – Leo was off in his own little world when he stepped on a blanket of leaves and fell into a deep pit, with a circumference of about eight feet and a depth of twelve feet. Cursing, he kicked at the wall of it and the soil crumbled and several handfuls fell in from the top.

"Leo!" Raph cried, running forward as his brother disappeared down a hole, fearing that there may be spikes or some other weapons pointing upwards from the bottom, ready to skewer anyone who fell in.

"I'm ok, Raph," Leo's weary voice called up, "you and Donnie keep searching for Mikey and I'll find my own way out."

"No, we can't split up – that's the last thing we should do," Raph threw a small rock down at his brother, hitting him in the head, trying to knock some sense into him.

"Raph has a point – we'll get you out first." Donnie agreed with his hot-headed brother and began looking around for ways to get their brother out when some voices were heard not far off.

"One of the traps has been triggered – Ronald and Ramakha just sent down the signal," one said.

"Right, well it's one of the ones around here somewhere…" the other replied.

"Crap on a crud," Raph swore, "what now?"

"Get yourselves out and find Mikey – I'll catch up; you have your shell cells, right?" Leo checked.

"Yeah," Donnie pulled out his. Raph also showed his and checked it was working and the two turtles disappeared quickly.

"Come on, Reginald!" the first voice, now recognisable as Roshiri's grumbled.

"Sorry – I thought I heard some other voices!"

"Oh, great…" Leo mumbled as he heard the footfalls of the two men draw closer. Unsheathing his Katana, he readied himself for a fight and when Roshiri's shocked face appeared over the edge of the whole, gun cocked and ready to shoot, Leo snarled menacingly.

"Look what we have here…" Roshiri's eyes glittered with malice, "do I shoot or do I not?"

"Roshiri – we promised them a week!" Reginald scolded his brother as his face also appeared and looked down at Leo.

"Yeah, but this low-life is intruding on our property, no doubt to kill us!"

"You don't know that!" Reginald snatched the gun off his brother and shot it into the air several times so there were no bullets left, "we promised them a week and that's what they'll get. And besides, why would he come alone to kill us when it's us who are after his blood along with that of his brothers?"

"I suppose," Roshiri grunted, shooting Leo an evil glare, "you need help getting out?" he offered stiffly.

"Yeah, that would be great," Leo replied sarcastically, an unannounced staring contest seeming to take place between him and the human as he was helped out of the pit.

"Now, explain what you are doing, trespassing on our territory?" Reginald inquired more warily now that Leo was out of the pit.

"Looking for the body of my brother…proof that he's dead."

"Oh," a note of sympathy almost registered in Roshiri's voice.

"So don't assume anything about me. And I'm not alone."

"You're not?" Reginald edged back a little.

"Donnie and Raph are with me – we need proof that both Marcie and Mikey are dead. We don't want to accept it yet." Leo cast his eyes to the floor to hide his emotion at the mention of his baby brother's plunge to his death on the forest floor.

"I understand…" Roshiri remarked sarcastically, "that is, I understand that you should get over it and use your head-start to your advantage."

"We will not abandon our brother while there is still a chance that he may be alive somewhere – we are not like you." Leo hissed the last five words so venomously that he spat a little, his face mere centimetres from that of Roshiri.

"There is little chance that he will still be alive," Reginald muttered, "It's a miracle you all survived the drop last time."

"We fell from a considerably lower height."

"Come with us – we will conduct a scan of the grounds. We didn't recover Marcie's body either so I think it would be a good idea. Then you can get out of here and finish your mourning so we can kill you sooner."

"What makes you think I'll follow you?"

"Because if you don't then I will detach your head from your body before you can even draw breath to scream!" Roshiri snarled in a low rumble.

"That would be against the agreement!" Leo gasped in disbelief.

"No…we agreed to give you one week's mourning but you are not actually mourning. You are trespassing on our property and we kill trespassers; so we're sticking to our rules of the Headquarters." Roshiri drew a blade and pointed it at Leo's throat. The blue-clad turtle scowled darkly and walked with the two human brothers.

"What the shell does he think he's doing?" Raph half groaned, half hissed.

"Going with them – we'll keep looking for Mikey. They've clearly forgotten about us, thank shell!" Donnie replied. He and Raph kept walking until they eventually reached the wall and could walk along the base of it.

"I'll climb up a little way and along the wall; there's a narrow ledge that sticks out for a while – I'll go along that."

"Ok, but be careful. We can't risk anyone else falling off this wall."

"Got it – you search the base and I'll search the actual wall itself." Raph began climbing, enjoying being able to give out the orders for once instead of having to listen to every word his older brother said.

"What in Shredder's name is _he_ doing here!" Ronald exclaimed as Leo was escorted into the building, Reginald behind with a sword to his back and Roshiri alongside and holding a sword across the turtle's neck.

"He was trespassing with…his brothers! We didn't catch them!" Roshiri cursed inwardly as he remembered the remaining two turtles.

"The penalty for trespassing is death," Ronald smiled maliciously in Leo's direction, imagining how good it would make him feel to slit open the turtle's throat and watch him die a painful death.

"I hardly think this is fair," Ramakha sighed, "but he was trespassing and has broken HQ rules – lock him up!" he barked the last words quickly and harshly.

"What? No, you can't---" Leo started to protest but was silenced when Reginald scratched his right arm with a blade and Roshiri clobbered him on the head with the hilt of another. He was out cold in seconds, a trickle of blood forming a thin line down his face.

"That was a little cruel," Ronald shifted uncomfortably, looking apprehensive about his brothers' actions.

"Filthy lizard has to learn."

"Maybe so but, next time, don't knock him out quite so violently," Ramakha was knelt by an unconscious Leo, "he'll be out for a fair few hours now."

The night drew close and darkness fell across the forest and the building it surrounded, also falling across the wall, concealing Raph from Donnie's view.

"How's it going? Found anything? It will be pitch black soon so I suggest that you get back down here."

"Hang on, bro – down in a minute. Whoa!" Raph nearly fell but was caught by a strong hand and pulled up into a small cavern in the wall.

"Thanks," Raph breathed a sigh of relief as he leant against the wall. Rain was beginning to spit outside and Raph was grateful for the light of a small fire in the crevice, "so, do you live here?"

"No…I was waiting for help to arrive," a hoarse voice coughed in reply, "I've sprained my left wrist."

"You sound awful – hey, I have a brother that could fix you up no problem."

"We'd better wait until morning or we'll slip and fall," the stranger smiled in the dark; Raph couldn't see him but he still got the impression that this stranger knew something that he didn't know, "so…tell me a bit about yourself – what brings you to such a place as the Foot Headquarters?"

"I'm with my brothers – well, two out of the three of them. You see, one of them fell off this wall in a battle and so me and my other two brothers are here looking for him…in case he survived."

"Wait a minute – Raph?" the voice grew a little stronger and Raph's mind began to awaken and a memory stirred within him. He knew that voice all too well.

"Mikey?" he dared cautiously, crossing his fingers and hoping he wasn't hearing things and going mad.

"Shell, I'm glad to see you!" Mikey leapt at Raph and enveloped him in a fierce hug, keeping his left wrist safely out of the way so it didn't move too much.

"We thought you were dead! Oh, wait until Donnie finds out about this!"

"Donnie?"

"Yeah, as in your brother; techno-wizard, brainiac, boy-genius, remember?"

"Duh – I meant what about Leo?" Mikey's face was illuminated by the faint firelight.

"Oh…um, he got captured. They said he was trespassing. We'll get him later. But what about you? How did you survive?"

"I don't actually know. I was falling with Marcie and she grabbed something. I kept hold of her foot and managed to swing myself into this cavern – but she then fell off and into the forest. She was definitely dead because I climbed down to have a look but landed awkwardly on my wrist and sprained it. I found the body but heard voices and managed to climb back up the wall just before Marcie's troops arrived and collected her body. I've been hiding in here ever since," he finished with a weak cough.

"Ok, we have to get you out of here. I'll call down to Donnie and he can come up here and fix you up as best he can under the circumstances. Then we'll save Leo in the morning – he can handle himself." Raph crawled to the entrance of the small cave and called down, "DONNIE! GET UP HERE!"

"HANG ON!" was the reply. Raph heard his brother picking his way carefully up the wall and held out a hand for his second youngest brother to grab. Pulling him in, they both sat by the fire once more.

"We'll stay here until morning – and I need you to give someone a quick checking over for any serious injuries, though I think he's just sprained his wrist and caught a bit of a cold."

"Who?" Donnie asked warily.

"Hey, bro," Mikey leaned forward so Donnie could see him. The purple-clad turtle nearly jumped out of his shell and Raph had to grab him to prevent him falling backwards out of their temporary shelter.

"Mikey…you're alive!" Donnie grinned so widely that he closely resembled a Cheshire cat. He hugged his little brother and the three of them settled down to try and get some manner of sleep after Donnie had used one of his bandanna tails to wrap Mikey's wrist properly while Mikey told him of his survival.

Leo awoke in a cell in the middle of the night, groaning as he sat up. He had a lovely, dark-coloured bruise on the back of his head to match the one above his eye and he could feel blood caked on his face and arm from Roshiri and Reginald knocking him out.

"So you're awake…good." Roshiri's voice came from outside the cell, "just for your information, you have been out for at least five hours now. Here is some water," he threw a bucketful of icy water threw the bars, soaking the unfortunate Leo from head to toe and sending him into shivering convulsions from the shock, "I'll be back later." Roshiri sniggered, leaving the leader to his thoughts.

"Wait!" Leo called after the human, "any news of my brothers?"

"We're letting them off the hook this time – but the moment they decide to step foot on our territory again then they will be thrown in without questions and you will be killed instantly.

"Great, thank you so very much," mumbled the blue-clad turtle sarcastically.

"No problem," responded Roshiri snidely before slamming the door to the dungeons and clattering back up the stairs.

"Wake up, dudes! We gotta go find Leo!" Mikey shook Raph with his good hand and prodded Donnie with his feet.

"M'awake," moaned Raph, merging his words together.

"Ok, let's go find Leo," Donnie stretched and made his way to the entrance to climb out and down the wall.

"Wait, bro – there's another way to get in," Mikey pulled his brothers along behind him as he headed to the back of the cavern, "look; it's a tunnel into the dungeons of the Foot Headquarters. Cool, huh?"

"Very nice, let's get this over with." Raph grumbled and the group set off along the tunnel, carrying one of the larger branches that had been burning on the fire as a torch to see what lay ahead, up to six feet ahead at least, even if they couldn't see any further.

After about an hour and a half, they reached a large door above their heads; closed tightly but with no bolt – it was like a giant wooden manhole cover.

"Spookular, it wasn't closed last time. Last time it was slightly open and I could just about see through it into one of the cells – the little one at the end."

"Hmm, maybe Don and I can move it," Raph beckoned Donnie over and pushed up on the wooden cover. After several strained pushes, they managed to lift it, a startled yelp coming from above as a heavy weight was thrown off the cover, making it considerably lighter and easier to lift off completely. The three turtles climbed out and looked around curiously to see who had yelped.

"What the shell did you--- Mikey…" Leo trailed off suddenly, biting his lip. His baby brother was stood directly in front of him, as alive and smiling as he ever was, but Leo couldn't move – he was in total shock, "Mikey…" he said again, voice cracking.

"Hey, Leo," Mikey smiled gently, knowing how much of a shock it must be for his oldest brother, "um…why are you soaking wet?"

"Roshiri threw freezing water at me," Leo replied absent-mindedly, waving a hand to the side in a loose gesture to show that it wasn't important, "but how did you survive?" he asked, shaking his head and pinching himself to check he wasn't dreaming. Mikey related the story for the third time and Leo just nodded, dumbstruck, every so often to show he'd understood even if he wasn't taking a single word of it in.

"We need to get out of here," Raph climbed back down the hole after the story and started back along the tunnel.

"He's right; Splinter will be worried and he really needs to know that Mikey is alive as soon as possible," Donnie agreed. Mikey motioned for Leo to go first but his big brother shook his head and pushed Mikey forward before him, not intending to let the youngest turtle out of his sight for quite some time!

"So you're telling me that you have been in this cavern since Marcie died?" Leo gasped as they reached Mikey's cave once more, "And you definitely saw her die?"

"It was a serious mess, bro – but you remember what she said about killing you first when you commented on the Shredder rotting at the bottom of the ocean? I think her troops have taken on that job…"

"How'd you figure that one out?"

"I overheard them talking," Mikey answered simply, "they were discussing how to get us all at once and I have a little hunch that it involves you somehow."

"When does it not?" Raph glowered, clenching his fists.

"Easy, Raph, just calm down – it's not my fault I'm in such high demand," Leo joked dryly. Donnie bit his lip and withdrew a little, waiting for the inevitable fight to follow.

"Calm down? We are under threat from two groups, both avenging the death of a family member – you and Mikey are bound to be the prime targets as you are the ones who killed Marcie and her Father _and_ were the ones who fought the Shredder for the last time. You nearly got yourself killed then and it's bound to happen again – and you're telling me to calm down?"

"Raph, just listen to me for a minute; I'm used to being in the firing line. I would rather it was me than any of you." Leo put a hand on his brother's shell.

"I wouldn't…" Raph trailed off grumpily.

"I know, but it can't be helped, can it?"

"It can!"

"No, Raph, it can't. I have made my decision not to let anyone else get involved if it's me they want to pick a fight with."

"Leo, you have to let us help you!" Donnie pleaded, "Or at least let us be there if they challenge you personally."

"You can watch from a distance if you must, but you cannot get involved unless something happens to me. If, for any reason, I get backed into a corner and give up – which is highly unlikely – then you have permission to step in. But let's concentrate on getting back home and telling Splinter that Mikey's alive before we worry about things that might never even happen."

"Whatever." Raph concluded sulkily, walking off in the direction of the nearest manhole cover. Leo rolled his eyes in exasperation before following at a brisk pace, still dripping wet. Mikey and Don shared the usual look they always had after one of Leo's fights with Raph.

"Something tells me that we can expect a shell of a lot of fights between those two in the next couple of weeks. They're even more immature than me when they fight, and that is most definitely saying something." Mikey wrinkled his beak at his purple-clad brother as their two oldest brothers disappeared down a manhole into the sewers, still hissing snide comments in the other's ear.

"I know what you mean; and they're completely unbearable to live with when they're like this!" Donnie sighed.

"Dude, it's so annoying – if it gets too much then I think I might have to smash a chair over their heads…I'll take Raph and you can beat Leo. That should teach them a lesson for fighting with each other."

"Nah, they'll never learn…"

"What makes you so sure?" Mikey surveyed his brother's expression with curiosity.

"It's Leo and Raph," was the simple reply.

****

**A/N: -** Ok, I hope you enjoyed that – I told you that Mikey wasn't totally dead – review for me please! Here are the shout-outs: -

**Lioness-Goddess: -** Recognise one of the nicknames Raph gave to Leo:-P Lol, thanks for your review and Mikey is back in the house! HIGH THREE!

**Eldarsevenstar****: -** Consider your insanity ended…for the moment anyway! Leo and Mikey have a shell of a lot to worry about – not in this chappie particularly…but certainly as the story progresses…and you wait until you see what I have in store for Casey…

**Chibi**** Rose Angel: -** I'm so glad you like my story – and don't worry, I didn't think you were mad – I was merely expressing that I don't get a kick out of it :-P There's no cliff-hanger this time but I can't promise for the whole story!

**Madvy****: -** Thank you for all the kind words, I really appreciate them! See? There's nothing to worry about for Mikey…yet.

**BlueRaven****: -** Ah, the cruelty of an author…nasty thing, really! Thank you for your review!

**Spootycup****: -** There's your closure! Hope you liked the outcome of that little worry – and no cliffie this time so consider yourself lucky because the lull is only temporary!

**TBreader****: -** You're absolutely right – Mikey is not dead as you can see! Good observance there on your part!

As always, it's great to hear from you guys so keep them coming!


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**A/N: -** Here is a nice long chapter to make up for all the short ones – this one is for a bit of Raph/Leo fighting and a little comedy before I get into the really heavy stuff. Shout-outs will be at the end so those naughty people who didn't review for me (but will this time, wink, wink, nudge, nudge!) can get straight into it!

"Master Splinter?" Leo poked his head round the door at the same time as Raph, the effect being two very comical looking turtle heads floating from behind the door. Splinter was nowhere in sight and the two turtles both tried to get in but ended up falling over each other and ending up crashing to the floor in a knot.

"Get off me, bonehead!" Raph growled.

"You get off me, hot-head!" retorted Leo.

"Ugh," Raph scrambled away from Leo and stood up, brushing himself off.

"Oh, stop being so stroppy all the time!"

"You ain't no better, Leonardo – Mr. Perfection, Mr. 'I'm so great', Mr. I've-got-a-very-large-stick-up-my-ass, Mr. Tight-ass, Mr. I---"

"CUT IT OUT!" Leo bellowed, launching himself back at his brother and pinning him to the ground.

"STOP BEING SUCH A JERK!" Raph aimed several punches at his brother, receiving several well-aimed kicks in return. Suddenly, he felt a harsh tug on his bandanna tails. He was yanked away from his older brother, both of them still kicking and lashing out at each other. Looking up, he saw Donnie and Mikey, with one of his bandanna tails each, while Splinter restrained the slightly less aggressive Leonardo, though he was only just managing to keep control of his eldest son.

"My sons - calm down!" he ordered at them. When they stopped struggling against who was restraining them, Splinter continued, "I do not know who started this fight, I do not know the cause of the fight---"

"He started it!" Raph blurted out, pointing at Leo.

"No, I didn't, you did!"

"I do not wish to know – it is six of one and half a dozen of the other as usual." Splinter frowned at them, "now, for this you two will be doing fifty extra sit-ups, ten extra flips and an extra ten press-ups tomorrow in practice."

"Sensei, that's not fair!" Raph protested.

"Yeah, especially considering I didn't start it!" Leo added.

"Be quiet, both of you! You shall both go and clean yourselves up and then you will make the dinner."

"You're letting _Leo_ near a cooker? And _Raph_ too?" Mikey's face was one of utter shock and disbelief.

"Um…Sensei, are you crazy?"

"No, I am not. And Raphael's cooking abilities far surpass those of Leonardo, although nowhere near your standard, Michelangelo." Splinter smiled at his youngest son.

"I was more worried about them throwing boiling water over each other!"

"He has a point. They'll end up with third degree burns and food poisoning," Donnie added, imagining all the possible consequences from this endeavour.

"They shall cook. Leonardo, Raphael, go into the kitchen. You shall cook proper food; no pizza and no ready-made meals. You shall cook from scratch." Splinter walked off into the living room, Donnie and Mikey making desperate pleas for him to reconsider, more concerned about their health than anything else. Leo and Raph glowered at each other and skulked into the kitchen, both cursing every word under the sun, only loud enough for each other to hear.

"I hate you so much," Raph muttered to Leo as he passed him to get some plates out.

"Well, you're not exactly my favourite person at this precise moment in time either, so don't flatter yourself by thinking that I'll just forget this like I forget all our other fights, Raphael. Because, guess what? I won't!"

"Quit it with the dramatics, Leonardo, they ain't working," Raph spat venomously.

"Who says they're dramatics?" Leo muttered darkly in reply.

"It don't take a rocket scientist to spot it," Raph growled.

"Just shut up for once, will ya? Now, help me get this soup sorted. What type are we making?"

"Just open a can – Sensei never has to know!"

"We'll never get away with it," Leo hissed.

"Ok, then we make it from scratch – so, Leonardo, enlighten me. How do we make it? I'm following your instructions," Raph folded his arms and leant back against the worktop, watching his older brother intently. Both turtles knew all too well of Leo's ability in the kitchen. Making brief eye contact with his brother, Leo looked down and then back up at his brother, trying not to splutter with laughter; it didn't work, and both turtles burst out into peals of piercing laughter. Clutching the worktop to stop himself from getting a stitch and falling over, Leo wiped the tears from his eyes and regained his composure.

"So, Raph, where are the cans then?" he began searching the cupboards, eventually finding a few cans of chicken and mushroom soup that April had bought for them during the winter while they all had colds.

"You start on that and I'll figure out something else to do for a main course."

"Right," Leo pulled out a saucepan and poured the soup into it, "um…what heat do I set it to?"

"Excuse me?"

"What heat do I set it to and which hob do I put it on?"

"That one," Raph pointed, "I think…and just use a medium heat."

"Ok," Leo set to it, embarrassed about how stupid he was in the kitchen – Raph had never had the pleasure of experiencing a cooking endeavour with him and it would almost certainly result in temper loss on Raphael's part and some sort of crockery would probably end up going for a flying lesson in the direction of someone's head.

Mikey and Donnie were sat in the living room, twiddling their thumbs as they awaited the smell of burning or the activation of the fire alarms Donnie had installed along with sprinklers in the kitchen. When peals of laughter rang out through the lair, they sat bolt upright and shot a reproachful glare in the direction of the kitchen.

"Is that…laughing?" Mikey gulped.

"It can't be," Donnie frowned, flicking through the channels as he attempted to find something half decent to watch, "can it?"

"They were swearing they hated each other only five minutes ago..."

"I know – weird or what?" Donnie shuddered.

Raph was doing reasonably well at cooking so far; Leo, however, was struggling even to cook something as simple as soup.

"Uh…Raph? How do you know if it's done?"

"Huh?" Raph turned round quickly.

"Um…it's bubbling and steaming…is it supposed to boil or not?" Leo bit his lip.

"WHAT! What sort of a question is that supposed to be?" Raph hurried over, "you idiot! You're supposed to be the next most intelligent after Donnie and you ask me whether the soup is meant to boil? Of course it's not, it---"

"Uh…Raph – you might want to look at the chicken…"

"What? Oh shell," Raph gulped as he turned round and opened the oven, flames bursting out and licking the entrance to the oven like tongues, shooting out and consuming anything in their way. A high-pitched siren wailed out around the lair and Donnie and Mikey ran in to find Raph and Leo arguing, Leo wielding a fire extinguisher at the same time.

"Oh yeah?" Leo was snapping at Raph, "at least mine didn't catch fire!"

"Mine wouldn't have caught alight if you hadn't been so incompetent and needed my help every five seconds!"

"Guys, shut up!" Donnie sighed, "just for once," he shielded his eyes as the sprinklers started showering them in the kitchen. The flames had already died down and Raph and Leo were in a face off once more, Leo looking dangerously close to whacking his red-clad brother around the head with the fire extinguisher he was still clutching.

"Guys, calm down." Mikey stepped between them, "just order a take-out."

"Splinter wants it done from scratch." Raph mumbled.

"So? He'd rather we ordered out then destroyed the kitchen." Donnie shrugged.

"Fine – what do we want?" Leo looked round, "stupid question – pizza, of course."

"What else?" Mikey beamed. Leo gestured to Donnie to go and order the pizza with Raph while he and Mikey cleared up in the kitchen; Donnie complied and soon the pizzas were ordered and the kitchen was, save for the soaked turtles that were tidying, cleaner by far than it had been before Raph and Leo had set about 'cooking', if what they had done could be given that description.

Eating their pizzas that evening, Leo and Raph repeatedly shot each other angry glares, scowling darkly as they chomped their pizzas down, ripping huge chunks off with their teeth so violently that at one point Raph choked and tomato purée spurted out of his mouth onto Donnie.

"Maybe that will teach you not to take such massive mouthfuls," the purple-clad turtle scolded softly as he wiped some gunk out of his eyes.

"Yeah, I know you're peeved at Leo because he's a total numbskull in the kitchen but don't vent out your frustration on the pizza – do it in your own time to the punch-bag or something."

"I'll vent out my frustration on you in a minute," Raph snapped viciously at his youngest brother.

"Geez, chill, dude – it's not like I'm asking you to give up pissing Leo off, I just want ya to spare us the contents of your mouth, language and pizza!" Mikey snorted with laughter as he spoke and Raph leapt up, shoving the last of his pizza slice into his mouth and quickly swallowing it before chasing Mikey around the lair. Donnie sighed and massaged his temples, catching Leo's eye – the older turtle was wearing such an exasperated expression that Donnie figured that the two of them were on exactly the same wavelength regarding this, except Donnie would leave it alone and Leo would provide a lecture for both parties involved at some point during the evening. Raph and Mikey were now in a full blown wrestling match on the floor, Mikey in a state of uncontrollable laughter which only succeeded in infuriating the hot-head further. Said hot-head was currently the possessor of the upper-hand as a result of flipping Mikey over the sofa, narrowly avoiding Donnie, and pinning him to the floor.

"Now, stop being such an idiot!" he glowered.

"Raph, that's enough," Leo began to intervene as Mikey scrabbled to get out of the iron grip Raph had on him.

"What you gonna do about it, your high-and-mightiness?" Raph sneered sarcastically at his elder brother. Mikey had now managed to escape and he and Donnie were crouched behind the sofa, almost covering their ears for the inevitable explosion that was about to take place in the living room.

"No need for sarcasm," Leo replied smoothly, a mocking grin gracing his features, his suppressed anger and retained control giving him the clear advantage, while Raphael was practically shaking with anger, icy glares being shot in the directions of both Mikey and Leo.

"You have no right to tell me what to do, oh fearless leader!" Raph spat in his brother's face. "Just get off my case for once and give me some space!"

"Not until you learn some responsibility, Raphael!"

"Oh, so now you're full-naming me? You always do that when you know I'm right."

"No, he does it 'cause he knows Raph hates it," Mikey sniggered to Donnie, who rolled his eyes but found it a strain not to laugh anyway.

"You want space? Then go for a walk; but don't go strutting around like you own the place every day of the week!"

"Any chance you're looking in a mirror, brother of mine, because that is exactly what _you_ do, not me!"

"Oh yeah, hot-head? Well at least I can control myself under pressure and don't go storming off in a strop like some five year old every three minutes!"

"Then maybe you should get out for once! That way I get space, you don't have to see me strut, I don't have to see you strut and I'm not going off in a strop. There, how does that feel? Me solving a problem for once instead of you,"

"Raph, you're being ridiculous."

"No, I'm being serious – so are you going or what?"

"You know what?" Donnie sighed from behind the sofa, "I'm sick of this," he stood up and put himself between his rowing brothers, "you two shut up and listen to me. How about you _both_ go out for a walk and give _me and Mikey_ some room to breathe and some peace and quiet away from your petty quarrels?"

"Fine," Raph stormed out.

"And there you go again!" Leo screamed after him, "always running away when you claim you hate to run away from fights!"

"Leo…" Donnie pleaded, searching his brother's face for understanding.

"I know, Donnie – it is pathetic, but we can't help it. You know how patient I am with everything and everyone else but I just can't keep my cool with him; he's ticked me off a hundred times to many, and a thousand times more."

"So are you going for a walk?" Mikey resurfaced from his refuge-come-barricade more commonly known as the sofa.

"Yes," Leo replied simply, "just so he doesn't go off on one when he gets back about how I always get softer punishments and fairer judgements and how people always take my side – you know the sort of thing…"

"Yeah, we've heard it enough!" Don chuckled lightly.

"I'll see you two later," Leo saluted them as he left the lair, much calmer by far than Raph had been, at which they were not in the least bit surprised.

"Leo?" Donnie called after him; his brother turned round and poked his head back into the lair.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful," Donnie smiled, slightly concerned - he didn't like to think of how many dangers could be out there for them, just waiting to cause them as much hurt and grief as possible.

"Aren't I always?" Leo grinned back, turning and walking out, breaking into a slow jog a few seconds later. Mikey and Donnie stood, revelling in the silence, the only sound being Leo's slowly retreating footfalls and their own soft breathing.

Raph ran all night; and how he ran! He ran so fast and with such heavy steps that soon the dull thud of his feet on the rooftops became the rhythm to his anger until it gradually subsided and the surging pulse of fury coursing through him eased off, as did his pace. It was a clear night and he could see across the entirety of New York City and the sun's warming rays on his back as it rose behind him, letting his mind relent to a more peaceful train of thought after having been so furious just before. He was utterly oblivious to the figure stood the other side of that same rooftop, facing out over the city in the opposite direction to Raph, watching the sunrise face on, also letting themselves be lulled into a sense of security and tranquillity that would vanish the moment they laid eyes on the one they had been in confrontation with; each was totally unaware of the other's presence until a sixth sense awakened in both and they cautiously turned round to face each other, drawing their weapons. Both pairs of eyes widened at who stood before them.

"Oh, it's you," was Raph's almost disappointed greeting.

"Raph, look, we need to stop fighting so much – it's getting out of hand and even Donnie is beginning to lose patience with it, although I think he still has far better control than either of us."

"I know," Raph sighed, "I just hate the way you always seem to come out on top, out of every situation."

"You know that's not true – there have been far too many situations where I have come out so close to rock bottom that it almost didn't seem worth making the effort to get back to the top," Leo sighed, adding softly, "you should know that better than anyone," hoping Raph didn't hear. It was an unspoken shred of knowledge that Raph and Leo shared such a deep bond through all the fights and the injuries and the countless times they had been punished together that they would never separate in spirit; they would always be able to sense the other more strongly than anyone else. But Raph did hear. He looked to the floor and thought back over all the times where his brother had been scared for him and when he'd been scared for his brother. He loathed admitting it, but Leo was absolutely right on this one; they did need to get it sorted.

"We need to stop," Raph finally confirmed in a small voice, unusual for the hot-headed turtle.

"Um…perhaps not now…" Leo trailed off, looking across the buildings.

"Why not now? Now is as good a time as any," Raph shrugged, a little put-out that now he was finally making a real effort, Leo wasn't going to comply.

"Because we are not alone," Leo readied himself for battle as four foreboding figures leapt across the rooftops towards them; the human brothers, "shell, what happened to giving us a week?"

"They must have found out that Mikey was alive!"

"But how--- oh shell…"

"What is it, bro?" Raph looked concerned.

"That cavern wasn't there by accident – it was an escape route for them if ever they were attacked – they probably had cameras in there and saw the whole thing!"

"No way…" Raph was too shocked to say any more.

"What other explanation is there? Well, get ready to fight them – we can't lead them back to the lair and they're too close for us to outrun them now; we're on our own." Leo finished his sentence just as Roshiri landed in front of him and made a swift swipe at him with a spear. Dodging it by mere centimetres, he called to Raph, "RAPH, BE READY FOR ANYTHING!"

**A/N: -** There ya go – and can I take this opportunity to let you know that I have a new TMNT story up called 'ECHO OF A TORTURED SCREAM', in case anyone is interested in reading it. It is extremely dark and heavy on the character death side of things. But at least if people die in there then there _might_ not be any deaths in here (Notice I used the words 'might not'!) Anyway, here are the shout-outs: -

**Lioness-Goddess:-** Splinter is very happy! Thank-you for your review, as always, and I'm happy I made you happy that Mikey's alive and Splinter is happy!

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**Chibi Rose Angel:-** Right now, the future of this story is uncertain but I'm planning on about 22 chapters for it, possibly with an epilogue on the end of it and possibly not, but it is sad to think that I could be nearing the end very soon – I love writing this!

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**Spootycup****:-** Hope you liked that – I know it's another cliff-hanger but this is the most important battle of the story soon to come and this is only easing you into it!

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**BlueRaven:-** Very diplomatic! Two and a half, I like it! Fearsome Foursome indeed – and how could I not go after Leo at some point? He is the best turtle ever, though I like the others too!

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**Eldarsevenstar****:-** Believe me, suffering is highly likely in the next few chapters as I near the end – the human brothers will soon be in their final battle with the guys but is one of them hiding something?

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**TBreader****:-** I wouldn't be too sure about this one ending ultra-happy. I could be mean and end on a cliff-hanger! Mission? Wow, makes you sound like a spy! Thank you for all your reviews and good luck with whatever you're doing!

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	19. Chapter Nineteen

**A/N: -** Mwahahaha – sorry to keep you waiting – I've been busy with my performance as Lt. Cassio in Othello (only female cast member playing a guy – strange sense of déjà vu…) Anyway, after the 22nd of July I should be able to write quicker because that's when my school breaks up and I get six weeks holiday! YAY! Read and Review and, most importantly, Enjoy!

Back in the lair, Mikey and Donnie were hooked to the television set, watching a show on the crime in New York rising once more and that such a wave of crime had not been seen since the disappearance of local 'saviour' Oroku Saki. The only problem was, the crimes weren't as they had been back then – this time, it was vandalism and extensive graffiti. There were mysterious pictures popping up in dodgy back-streets all over the city and, Donnie noted, always near a manhole cover. The pictures always consisted of different torture methods and there was always a stripe of colour above each method; the colours? Blue, red, purple and orange – these were calling cards for the turtles living in the sewers and a warning of what they had coming to them if the human brothers caught them. As far as vandalism went, there were drains being smashed, manhole covers being stolen and the fire escapes of buildings being broken and twisted out of shape. Donnie and Mikey shared a significant look of mixed fear and understanding; the battle for victory over the Shredder was still not over – not until they or the brothers were finally dead, along with the remainder of Marcie's family…

Raph fought as hard as he could against Ramakha and Reginald, and with every block he pushed himself even further. On the other side of the rooftop, Leo was doing exactly the same with Roshiri and Ronald. On the whole, things seemed to be going reasonably well for the human brothers, with only the occasional problem and loss of control, and they mainly remained on the attack. Raph and Leo were primarily on defence, unable to gain the upper-hand. This was not good and not how they wanted it to be; they needed to be able to go on the attack. Leo was getting dangerously close to the sky-lights in the roof where he would easily be pushed through, and Raph could see it. He could see it but he could do nothing. His concentration blipped as he watched his brother with an anxious face and Ramakha took his chance, sweeping his left foot round and knocking Raph to the floor, bringing his blade down on the unfortunate turtle moments later. Raph barely had time to move so it missed his heart. Instead it took a chunk out of the flesh of his shoulder. He growled in anguish and Leo whirled round, cursing as he saw his brother's situation. Darting over as fast as he could, he took down Ramakha with a sharp blow to the side of the head. Roshiri, yelling in rage at the blue-clad turtle, pulled out a small dart and fired it, hitting Leo directly in the crook of his right elbow.

"What the shell?" Leo looked down and pulled the dart out, waiting to fall under some tranquiliser or something – but nothing happened, "Poison?" he murmured aloud, wondering if he'd receive an answer.

"Not exactly…" Ronald smirked, clicking to what Roshiri had just done.

"Three days," Reginald grinned at his brothers.

"Three days?" Leo repeated, eyes wide.

"Three days," Roshiri cackled menacingly, "come on guys – Reginald, get Ramakha!" he barked. Reginald nodded and obliged, lifting his fallen brother off the ground and bounding away across the rooftops.

"Leo?" Raph sat up, gritting his teeth, blood positively pouring out of his shoulder, "You ok?"

"I guess," Leo looked at the small dart he held,_ I'll take this back to Donnie; maybe he can figure this out,_ he thought, "Oh shell, Raph, look at your arm!" his hand rose to his mouth in shock and he untied his bandana, pressing it against Raph's shoulder tightly.

"Ouch!" his brother protested.

"You have to keep pressure on it – c'mon, let's go!" Leo led the way across the rooftops, the same words echoing over and over in his mind, _three days, three days, three days,_

_Three Days…_

_Three…_

_Days…_

_Three Days…_

Bursting through the entrance of the lair, Leo yelled for his brothers,

"MIKEY! DONNIE!" he cried out.

"Leo?" Mikey looked round from his position on the sofa.

"Bro, what's the matter?" Donnie got up in time to see Raph stagger through the door three paces behind Leo, extremely pale and with a blood soaked bandana, which used to be blue, pressed on his shoulder, "Aw, man," Donnie cringed and went to his brother's aid, leading the hot-headed turtle into his lab while Leo went and sat next to Mikey. Donnie's voice came from the lab, "Mikey, can you give Leo the once over? Make sure he's ok?"

"I'm fine, Don," Leo called back.

"Mikey, don't listen to him – check him over anyway!" Don replied.

"Sorry, dude, just following orders," Mikey began looking Leo over and making sure he wasn't too badly cut up. He came upon the puncture wound from the dart, "what's this?"

"Some kind of dart…" Leo responded vaguely.

"Poison?" Mikey looked up worriedly.

"No…well, Roshiri said 'not exactly' then they kept saying 'three days'. I don't know what they were on about though…"

"Well whatever it is, it can't be good, them being the Shredder's brothers and all," Mikey mumbled despairingly.

"Leo," Donnie walked out of the lab and grabbed his eldest brother by the arm, receiving a surprised yelp in response from the turtle in blue and a snort of laughter from the one in orange, "Raph told me I should check you over."

"Is he ok?" Leo asked immediately on the mention of his brother's name.

"He's gonna be fine – let me just check you over, ok? What's this I hear about a dart?"

"Nothing, Donnie – well, ok, it is something; I got shot with this dart and then they wouldn't say anything else except that is wasn't exactly a poison and then they just kept repeating the words 'three days' over and over – what does it mean?" he asked the last question more of himself than of his brother.

"Hmmm, come with me," Don led Leo into the lab and sat him down on a chair opposite where Raph was sat, head slumped onto his chest and his arm wrapped tightly. Looking inquiringly from Raph to Donnie, his purple-clad brother laughed lightly, "Don't worry, he'll be fine – just had to stitch his wound and didn't want to do it while he was conscious – and he lost quite a bit of blood but not so much that it will be a problem. He won't be able to use his arm for a few days though."

"Bad luck," Leo sighed, "he won't be too pleased."

"He wasn't," Donnie grimaced, "I'm surprised you couldn't hear him cursing from the Living Room…"

"Nah, we couldn't hear a thing of what was going on in here…so can I go?"

"Yeah – just give me the dart to have a look at and you go and get some rest, understood?"

"Yes, Doc," Leo saluted his brother and left the lab, heading straight for his room and crashing on the bed.

That night, all Leo could think about were the same words – they chilled him to the bone – their significance was as of yet unknown but he was certain he would soon find out, and that he wouldn't like it when he did.

_Three Days Three Days Three Days _

_Three Days Three Days Three Days _

_Three Days Three Days Three Days _

All three of his brothers lying dead?

_Three Days Three Days _

_Three Days Three Days _

_Three Days Three Days _

Himself dying of some deadly and slow-working poison?

_Three Days _

_Three Days _

_Three Days _

The final battle…?

_Three Days _

The next day dawned and Leo awoke from a fitful night's sleep, dark rings framing his eyes. He groaned as he heaved himself out of bed and into the kitchen. Looking at the clock, he started suddenly; eleven o'clock? Not possible! He never slept in! And Master Splinter would never let him get away with missing practice, would he?

"Hey, bro," Mikey greeted him warmly as he walked out of the dojo and into the kitchen, where Leo was still stood dumbfounded, "we decided you and Raph could use a rest after yesterday,"

"Oh…uh…thanks," Leo replied distractedly.

"Hey, Leo!" Donnie ran out of the dojo to his oldest brother, "I had a look at that dart and there's definitely some sort of chemical substance in it – not poison – something else…don't worry, I'll figure out what it is."

"Hey, bro," Raph arrived from his room, arm still in a sling, "how are ya?"

"Fine," Leo answered woodenly. Less than five minutes after waking up and he already had a headache!

"You sure you're ok?" Mikey asked worriedly, raising an eye ridge at his eldest brother, who had sat mechanically down at the kitchen table.

"I'm fine, Mikey, ok?" Leo made an attempt at a grin, "Raph, you should still be resting – go back to bed now – you had a tough night last night."

"So did you…"

"You know what I mean; you lost a lot of blood and then you couldn't sleep – I heard you wandering around at some ungodly hour this morning."

"I saw you tossing and turning, Leonardo, you barely slept either," Raph shot back sharply, causing an obvious flinch in his brother's effortlessly calm-looking countenance.

"Just go and rest, Raph, ok?" Donnie stepped in, sensing the early signs of a fight between his two older brothers.

Raph did go back to his room only to reappear at dinnertime in an even fouler mood than he had been in before.

"Someone's chirpy this evening," Mikey laughed, shutting up when he received a death glare from his wounded brother.

"Shuttup, Michelangelo, or you will not live out the next three days," Raph growled. Leo's head shot up at the words – those words again – three days…except it was only two days to go now…two days until what? He asked himself the same thing over and over, _three days until what, Leonardo, three days until what?_ But every time he asked it he ended up going round in circles and never coming up with anything even remotely close to the type of answer. He didn't know whether any of his guesses were right or wrong for certain, but a gut instinct told him he was going down all the wrong roads. The only path of thinking that had felt a little warmer than the others was the thought of a final battle. Glancing at Donnie, whose eyes were fixed curiously on the blue-clad turtle, he smiled wanly and turned back to his food, picking at it and barely eating anything. Only a few mouthfuls later, he got up and left without a word.

The atmosphere remained tense for the next day also – the last day. The three days were up and Leo was a nervous wreck, although he didn't let it show, save for in his obvious distraction in practice and his restlessness in meditation. Every time he tried to focus, the same images barged into his head and forced themselves to the front of his mind, driving him slowly mad. The evening arrived during which it would reach exactly seventy-two hours since Raph and Leo had their fight with the human brothers on the rooftops of New York City.

"What do you think will happen?" hissed Raph to Donnie.

"I don't know – hey, where's Leo?"

"In his room, pacing," Mikey sighed, "he's been in there for half an hour. It's only five minutes until it's been exactly three days…he's a total wreck and is acting like some kind of raving lunatic."

"He _is_ a raving lunatic!" Raph muttered.

"Raphael, that is no way to talk about your brother," Splinter chided his son sternly.

"I don't care, Sensei," Raph replied fiercely, "Leo's been acting all whacko for days now and it's driving me crazy!"

"It is a little weird, Master Splinter," Mikey piped up quietly, "and it's only four minutes now, and then---"

"Then this will all be over," Splinter reassured his youngest son gently.

The next four minutes passed like a dream of some sort – although to Leo it seemed more like a nightmare, each moment, slow and painful, adding to his distress. Finally, the four minutes were up and the seventy-two hour mark was reached. It was now or never – he was about to find out what the brothers had meant by their cruel laughter and simple words…

**A/N: -** You wanna know what happens? Three days is up and Leo is about to find out – but I'll leave you hanging in there a little longer, for methinks there is more suspense to be had yet and more brutality and possibly even a---well, I won't give any more away. You'll just have to read the next chappie – now, shout outs!

**Lioness Goddess: -**Stroppy means moody/stressy - English word, I guess...in answer to the question: How do you burn soup? You ask me to make it!

**Eldarevenstar: -** I'm saying no more winks but I'm really glad you like it and your reviews always make me smile!

**Chibi Rose Angel: -** Get some tissues ready - by the last chappie, you will need them! Thanks for the review!

**Spootycup: -** You'll get pain for Leo all right - I can say no more on how he will suffer but you can guarantee that a lot of them will suffer, too many will suffer! Mwahaha!

**BlueRaven: -** Aww, thank you so much - I'm really flattered by your review! Thanks as always and hope you enjoyed this chappie!


	20. Chapter Twenty

**A/N: - **I trust you all remember what happened in the last chapter – Leo was about to find out what the whole 'three days' thing meant as the three days are now up. Well, read and enjoy but don't forget to review afterwards! And big yay, I'm finally in my summer holidays! I can't believe they are here at last!

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened for the next half an hour – the next hour – the next two hours. Shocked and confused, Leo emerged into the Living Room where the rest of the family waited with bated breath.

"Nothing," Leo murmured hoarsely.

"You're serious? Bro, were it not for the fact that Sensei were here then I would kill you!" Raph snapped viciously.

"Raph, not now," Donnie tutted, making his way over to Leo and laying a hand on his brother's shell, "you ok?"

"Fine…" Leo trailed off.

"You won't be," a voice cackled, "sorry we're a little late!" Ramakha stood in the doorway, flanked by his brothers, examining his spear with the utmost scrutiny and a bored look on his face.

"How did you get past the security alarms?" Donnie gasped, astounded by the sudden appearance of their foes.

"We have our own hidden qualities you never knew about," Roshiri grinned.

"Three days are up, Leonardo," Ronald made eye contact with the baffled Leo, causing the turtle to glower at him, "oh, now don't be like that – we don't want you to die with that look on your face."

"It was a trick," Leo snarled silkily.

"A trick? No, Leonardo, not a trick – you see, we figured that you would get all paranoid about the whole 'three days' thing and then think it was a trick when nothing happened – but this is only the beginning," Roshiri pulled out what looked like a remote control from inside his cloak, "this is the key to whether you live or die. One push of a button and the poison is released into your veins. How to prevent that fate? Kill your brother?"

"Which brother?" Leo dared them to continue.

"Which brother? Well now, which one would it be most difficult for you to kill? Donatello because of his gentle nature, Michelangelo because he is your baby brother, Raphael because of how similar you are…no, how about we make this a little more interesting…we'll fight you and your brothers while the poison is running through you – if you can defeat us and gain access to this," he held up the button, "before it is too late then you can release the antidote into your body and have a chance of survival…"

"Roshiri, don't---" Raph was cut off by the human man pressing the button on his control, causing Leo to convulse in agony, falling to the floor. Throwing a smoke bomb to the floor, Ramakha barked for his brothers to disappear. Crawling through the smoke and desperately trying to reach his brother, Mikey attempted to keep his head under the smoke in an effort to breathe easier.

"We said three days," Roshiri's voice echoed round the smoke-filled lair, "we didn't say from when. You have three days to find us and beat us – three days before your brother is too far gone – three days before we get our revenge at last!"

As the smoke cleared, Mikey was pulled to his feet by Donnie.

"Where's Leo?" Mikey glanced round. Donnie pointed to where Raph was helping their eldest brother up. Rushing over, Mikey hugged his brother tightly, "dude, you're shaking like a leaf!" he almost sobbed, swallowing the lump in his throat – now wasn't the time – Leo was nowhere near beaten yet. Raph shuddered and smiled faintly at Donnie, who was making a few calculations in his head.

"What're you thinking, bro?" he inquired softly.

"Nothing much…just trying to figure something out," was the absent-minded reply.

"You gonna tell us what?"

"No…" Donnie trailed off, looking up a few moments later and taking in the state of his three brothers, "Raph, get Leo back to his room and stay there. Mikey, you come with me; we're gonna take another look at that dart."

"Sure thing, Donnie," Mikey gulped and pulled away from Leo, who wasn't responding to anything or anyone; lost in his own world. Following his brother into the lab, he cast one last forlorn glance back into the Living Room, where Raph had put his good arm around Leo and was leading him back to his bedroom.

Sitting Leo down on the bed, Raph tried to get his older brother to talk to him; even one word would have been enough.

"Shell, bro, you gotta talk to me here – tell me how I can help ya!" he pleaded.

"We have to find that controlling device," Leo answered quietly.

"Yeah, but how?"

"We have to find that controlling device,"

"You told me that already, but---"

"We have to find that controlling device,"

"Leo, you're really freaking me out right now – snap out of it!" Raph slapped his brother gently round the face and Leo barely moved. He blinked, but that was about it as far as reactions went.

"We have to---"

"---find that controlling device. I know, bro, okay? And we will, I promise. You're always looking out for us – let us look out for you."

"I have to find it – you guys shouldn't have to put yourselves at risk here. I don't want them shooting these darts into any more of you."

"Well, at least you're sounding like your old self again," Raph sighed, "but we're coming and we're helping whether you like it or not."

"GUYS!" Donnie yelled, making Leo and Raph start. The two turtles leapt up and ran into their brother's laboratory to find him and Mikey bent over the dart, which was lying under the microscope, "look at this," Donnie pushed Leo forward to look down the microscope.

"It can't be…" Leo trailed off, venom now lining his voice, "how is it possible? We haven't heard anything of him since Shredder's death!"

"What is it?" Raph shoved his way through and looked for himself, "no way! He can't be working for them, can he?"

"That's what it looks like," Donnie sighed, taking off his goggles and hanging them up on their hook again.

"But I thought he would have taken the chance to be free of the whole Foot organisation and its crap," Raph's eyes were wide.

"Clearly not, Raph," Leo bit his lip, "looks like we can't get rid of him."

"Get rid of whom, my sons?" Splinter asked from the door of the lab.

"Baxter Stockman," was the reply his four sons chorused back at him in unison.

"We have only three days to sort this mess out," Splinter told his sons the next morning.

"We're pretty much aware of that, Sensei," Mikey grimaced, laughing a little nervously before looking to his three brothers, hoping one of them would say something.

"Donatello," Splinter continued, "do you know exactly what the effects of the poison will be yet?"

"No, not yet, Master Splinter – I'm still looking into it – all I know is that there's a little tranquiliser or muscle relaxant or something else that would slow the reflexes – the ideal scenario for our opposition." Donnie scratched his chin thoughtfully, "my next job is to figure out exactly what ratio of tranquiliser there is in comparison with the amount of poison and whatever else is in that dart. Once I know, I can then work to find out which poison it is, what its effects will be and if the other elements of it will counteract any of those effects."

"You'll do all that in less than three days?" Raph sounded sceptical.

"No, I'll do that anyway…whichever way things turn out…but I will do as much as I can today so that we can go into battle with full knowledge of what will happen."

"So we have to sit here all of today and do nothing?" Raph's temper was beginning to flare up and he stood hastily, only to be pulled back down onto the sofa by Leo, who shot him a warning look, "oh, don't look at me like that, Leo," Raph grumbled, "you ain't gonna make me feel guilty in the slightest, so quit it already!"

"As I was saying," Donnie spoke meaningfully, "I will do as much as I can today and hopefully, if we're lucky, we can seek the human brothers out tonight – tomorrow morning at latest."

"Ok," Mikey nodded.

"Fine," Leo agreed.

"Good luck, my son – you shall do what you expect of yourself plus much more; of that I am certain." Splinter smiled softly.

"No." Raph growled, "I will not sit here while one of my brothers is _dying_ from some deadly toxin that has been shot into him and we don't have a clue what the shell is going on and are on a strict time limit here – our days are numbered, and the number is three – and you just wanna sit here and do nothing!"

"Nothing? Raph, without this information, anything could happen."

"Like what? We know that it's poison; we know we have three days and we know that we have to get that remote. So what is there to find out that's any more essential than that? I'm sorry, guys, but I can't stay here – I'll go insane…"

"Raphael, you will stay here and wait for the relevant and important information to be discovered."

"No, Sensei, I can't – I just can't!" Raph raised his voice a little and stood again. Leo rolled his eyes and stood up as well, turning his brother to face him.

"Raph, we are all staying here – none of us can take them on by ourselves, we need everyone's input – and you're input for the moment is helping Donnie in any way you can and not pulling any stupid stunts." Leo forced his brother to sit again and the hot-headed turtle scowled darkly, but relented all the same.

The four turtles and Splinter spent a busy day exploring every possible type of poison that could have been used and could have the time in which they worked controlled to the day but there was no such poison in any of Donnie's medical books, or in Splinter's books of ancient herbs and recipes, nor on the internet. It seemed they would have to look even deeper into it than they had first anticipated; they would need to find separate ingredients, not the whole poison as a package.

"Guys, take a look at this," Raph frowned at a picture of a herb in one of Splinter's books, "it's a herb that, and I quote, 'when injected into the victim, depending on the quantity used, can cause a high fever, double vision and eventually death. The effects will begin within two days and, depending on the concentration, death can occur any when from the third day to the seventh day. If used correctly, it can also be a remedy for…' blah, blah, blah, you get the idea." Raph stopped, having read the crucial part.

"Hmmm, does it list the chemical properties and how to test for it?" Donnie inquired, furrowing his brow in curiosity.

"Yeah, just there," Raph pointed at a spot on the page and Donnie snatched the book off him, also whisking away the microscope and several different items of scientific purpose. He returned about thirteen minutes later with a triumphant look on his face.

"Nice work, Raphy – it seems we have found another component of our mystery poison! I'll give it to you in percentages as it may be easier to explain. It seems that the mixture is ten percent tranquiliser, sixty percent of this herb and thirty percent of some other ingredient, or ingredients, that we do not yet know of."

"Excellent, so we have a lead now," Mikey grinned.

"I guess," Leo sighed, "but it doesn't solve the problem of the other thirty percent, does it?"

"Nah, but you gotta look on the bright side a little, bro – you guys are all way too morbid and depressing sometimes! At least we're more 'in the know' than we were fifteen minutes ago – look at it that way and it doesn't seem quite so bad."

"It's still pretty bad though," Raph shrugged.

"Raph, you're not helping," Mikey hissed through his teeth.

"Shuttup, Mikey," the other turtle hissed back in response, "so, Donnie, any bright ideas on what might be in the rest of it?"

"Not as of yet, no, but we'll get there – we've done well so far, right? We just need to find out what the other effects will be as we've found the fatal part."

"How do we---?" Leo began but didn't finish as, exactly on cue; his legs went weak and wobbly, giving way. He grabbed Mikey, who was shocked but held onto his brother tightly, and then slumped over, blacking out.

"Well, that would be one way to do it," Donnie sighed dryly, "now we need to find something that would induce blackouts – Mikey, take Leo to his room and we'll get started."

"Whoa, what happened?" Leo came round led on his bed about four minutes later, as Mikey was just about to leave the room.

"You blacked out, dude," Mikey turned back and sat on his brother's bed. Leo began to sit up but Mikey pushed him back down, "you aren't going anywhere until we know exactly what those bozos pumped into you."

"How long have I been out?"

"Only a few minutes, but it would be enough in a fight for them to kill you or kidnap you or something." Mikey spoke with obvious concern, "you feel ok?"

"Yeah, pretty much,"

"Pretty much?" Mikey raised an eye ridge.

"I mean, it feels as though my feet are strapped to blocks of lead or some other heavy metal and my joints feel a little stiff, but that's probably just from fighting."

"Even so, I'm telling Donnie anyway so he can look out for it. You gotta tell us if even the slightest thing is wrong otherwise we can't figure this out. Promise me,"

"I…I promise, Mikey." Leo smiled warmly.

"Well, you stay here – I gotta go see if they found anything else yet."

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not. You can't play the hero and the leader all the time, bro – you have to let yourself have a break."

"I don't want a break!"

"It's not what you want; it's what you need that matters. Wait a minute, am I imparting wisdom here? Ok, bro, we'll discuss this some other time, 'kay? Right now, you have to stay put." Mikey waggled his finger at Leo as if he were a naughty six year old that had just stolen from the cookie jar and then left, shutting the door carefully behind him.

**A/N: -** And there I stop. If you want to know how the poison works then you will have to read the next chapter where all will be revealed. I hope you liked this one – now review for me and I will be very happy! Shout-out time: -****

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**Lioness Goddess: -** Don't kick me! Lol, I love writing cliffies, don't you? And this could well turn into a horror movie – though I think I'll let EoaTS deal with the horror!

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**Chibi**** Rose Angel: -** LN? And the guys may die…or one might…or none might…you never know evil grin.

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**BlueRaven: -** Lol, not as quick an update as I would have liked it to be but there ya go! I'll try and make it faster! Thanks for your review!

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**Donnie's Girl: -** I won't hurt Leo – but Roshiri, Ramakha, Ronald and Reginald might! Mwahahaha! Ahem…anyway, keep reading – I appreciate your reviews!

**Spootycup****: -** I'm really pleased you like the story so much! Lol, the three days have been…suspended…as it were! But you wait…there is a shell of a lot of material to come in this story yet!

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**Pi90Katana: -** Don't worry about it – just review when you can and I'll be happy! Lol, you won't like the hidden twist I have planned one bit, and no I'm not gonna suspend the three days again – I have more action to write!


	21. Chapter TwentyOne

**A/N: -**This is a very long chapter in comparison with some of the others but it is full of information about the poison as well as a few examples of its effects as you go through the chappie! I hope you like it – please review for me if you do! I really appreciate it and reading them makes me smile! You may also be interested to know that the whole story has, in fact been written now, and only needs to be published so updates can be as fast or slow as I want them to be (insert evil grin here!) but to be nice I'll make them quite quick, methinks. Ok, enough waffle! Read, enjoy, review!

"Mikey, we gotta act and we gotta act now," Raph shoved past his youngest brother and out of the room.

"Raph, come back – Raph, please, control yourself," Donnie hurried after him and grabbed the hot-headed turtle's wrist, stopping him going any further. Quickly trying to analyse the situation, Mikey realised that Raph was headed for the exit of the lair and Donnie looked tense and that there was a book open on Donnie's desk that the two of his brothers had clearly been looking at. He slowly and cautiously made his way over to the desk, silently dreading what he would see there. He saw a picture of a plant and began to read the description of what its poison would do: -

_'Once in the bloodstream, the poison will cause the sufferer to have frequent blackouts, which happen every time the poison rampages through another organ in their body. There is only one antidote for this that must be mixed especially for the purpose and takes six months to make, meaning that unless the sufferer has some ready-made then death is inevitable. Once the sufferer has their first blackout, they become more frequent and more painful, taking longer for them to reach unconsciousness. You cannot tell when the last blackout will occur, but it will usually be about three days after the first and it will seem like any other blackout, except it will be the most painful and the sufferer will not wake up again.'_

Mikey, pale-faced and trembling, walked out of the lab and joined his brothers, where Raph was still struggling against Donnie's grip. Putting a hand on Raph's shoulder, he smiled feebly,

"We will get them – and we will get the antidote, even if it kills us."

"When do we leave?" Raph growled to Donnie, unable to resist smiling at Mikey's words.

"Give me two hours to make some preparations – then we're ready to go." Donnie nodded to them, "can you two send Leo through to me? He'll want to know what's in the poison."

"Sure, bro," Raph banged on Leo's door, "HEY, LEO, GET UP AND GET OUT HERE NOW!"

"How charming," Donnie rolled his eyes, "always so polite, huh, Raph?"

"Always," Raph flashed his brother a quick and mischievous smile before turning back to the door, "MIKEY – I'LL PUMMEL YOU!" he suddenly yelled.

"Huh?" Mikey raced out of where he'd gone into his and Raph's room, looking bewildered, "what did I do now?"

"Sssh," Raph whispered, holding a finger to his lips in case his brother wasn't listening to him – at least then he'd see the gesture and take note, "I'm getting Leo to come out of there."

"Raph, don't you dare pummel Mikey – I thought you were going to try and keep your temper with him more. You lose it way too much; he can't help being a prankster, like you can't help being a hot-head and Donnie can't help being a genius. So lay off him for once, yeah? Shell, we haven't got time to waste on petty pranks and other such matters, you know that."

"Chill out, Leo, I was just trying to get you up!" Raph backed off, looking amused; Leo, however, looked far less than amused.

"That's not even funny, Raph. So what do you want?"

"Donnie wants to speak to you in the lab for a minute. By the way, we leave in two hours to go and hunt down those human freaks!" Raph punched the air vigorously and ran into the dojo, fitting in some last minute practice of punching Roshiri's smug face in and damaging his features, hopefully permanently if Raph got his way!

"You wanted to speak to me?" Leo yawned as he arrived in the lab, where he instantly made a beeline for his brother, who was poring over a book.

"Yeah," Don answered distractedly, "Ok, I've drawn up a list of all the effects and in what order they should occur in and at about what stage. I've also got a few facts on each of the ingredients used in case you wanted to look over them. I've talked to Raph and Mikey and they are both aware of what could happen."

"Uh-huh," Leo skimmed through the few sheets of paper he had been handed, "we'd better get going."

"Just let me grab some stuff,"

"What stuff?" Leo eyed his brother curiously.

"Stuff that might help us out a little in the short term – ya know, medical bits and bobs and some other basic equipment. If Stockman's involved then we could be put up against anything."

"Good point," Leo shrugged, "I'll round up the others – meet you by the door."

"No need, they'll be there already – um, Leo, I wouldn't show the others page four – the little notebook page at the back of that pile," he gestured to the papers Leo was clutching.

"Why not?" Leo asked, puzzled, having not noticed the smaller piece of paper. Reading it quickly, his eyes widened and he inhaled sharply with shock. He read it over and over again, just to make sure what he was reading was the truth and not some false figment of his imagination – but it was crystal clear. He looked back up at Donnie and nodded to him in acknowledgement of what he was being informed of.

"So you won't show them?"

"I think that's for the best – why let them know of this until it's absolutely necessary?" Leo sighed sorrowfully, "There's no point."

"I know," Donnie spoke quietly, "c'mon, I'm ready to go now." He picked up his bag and the two turtles left the room.

"About time too!" Raph threw his hands up in exasperation as his two brothers joined them at the door to the lair.

"Donnie, what have you got in that thing?" Mikey was referring to Don's shoulder bag, which looked as though it was about to burst at the seams.

"Everything, including the kitchen sink, and more I'll bet," Raph mumbled restlessly. He was getting fidgety and impatient with all the chattering and wanted nothing more than to get going.

"Be patient, Raph," Leo read his brother's mind, "you'll get the fight you're pining for so much."

"Can. We. Please. Go. Now?" Raph separated his words very carefully, having thrown a sour glance in his older brother's direction, gaining only a poking out of the tongue in return. Rolling his eyes, Leo shoved the papers Donnie had given him into his belt and looked at each of his brothers in turn.

"All right, let's go," he announced.

"Now how many times have we heard that line recently?" Mikey chortled, receiving a bap round the head from a now extremely irate Raphael, "ow! It was a joke! Y'know, Raphy-boy, you really ought to recover your sense of humour. You used to have one…kind of…" he trailed off as he saw Leo and Donnie miming a painful and sudden death behind Raph's back and waving for him to stop. The four turtles shared an awkward silence and then left the lair, moving swiftly and stealthily.

"So where do we start?" Raph inquired once they were top-side and safely concealed in an alley.

"Well, Donnie here did some research into all the graffiti that has been appearing all over this city and has discovered that each one has exactly the same background,"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Raph snorted impatiently.

"Everything," Leo snapped back, "the background is where they want us to die – and if it's always the same then it must be where they're waiting for us."

"And where is it?"

"It looks like a forest of some sort. So it could be the one outside the Foot Headquarters, if you really think about it," Leo paused for a minute and then continued, "but the trees were only visible through a rectangle in the corner of each design, meaning it must be in a room. And rooms were on a level with the bottom of the trees so---" he was cut off by the excited red-clad turtle.

"It's gotta be a secret hideout in the forest by the Foot Headquarters," his face fell, "but that place is rigged up with hundreds of traps – and it's huge! And it's either side of the actual Foot building, so it could be on either side…how do we find it?"

"Pot luck," Donnie grimaced from where he had been standing, "hey, where's Mikey gone?"

"Uh…guys…" the youngest turtle pulled on Raph's arm urgently, "you might wanna have a look at this – it's the most detailed piece of 'artwork' yet!" he led them back a little further into the alleyway to a large wall, just about visible in the darkness by the light of a streetlamp at the opening of the alley. The four turtles squinted through the heavy darkness at the picture and four pairs of eyes widened as they cast their gazes over it several times.

Mikey was looking at the picture of the turtle with an orange stripe above its head – this was how they wanted him to die. He was hung by his wrists from a beam of the ceiling and his feet had been cut off with a chainsaw, courtesy of Ramakha, along with Roshiri carving obscenities onto his shell and Reginald gouging chunks out of his face with some sort of sharp implement. On top of all this, Ronald was whipping him with a whip; and the whip was on fire, literally, with the flames licking at Mikey and searing into his flesh as the strikes hit him.

Leo was horror-struck by the turtle with the blue stripe above its head; the poison was clearly what the human brothers intended to actually kill him as he was a funny colour, but there were other methods of torture. Reginald was cutting slits all down his arms, making them deep enough to draw blood but not so deep as to cut into veins or arteries. Ronald and Roshiri were beating him with clubs, cracking his shell, and Ramakha was there with a clawed gauntlet, such as Shredder used to wear, and was drawing it down his entire body over and over again, deeper each time so eventually it would break through to the vital organs.

Raph gulped at the sight before him of the turtle with the red stripe over its head. Roshiri was using a long, thin tool to pierce his chest, clearly having punctured his lungs already, while Reginald was using a crow bar to break his arms and legs one by one in several places each time. Ronald, however, was holding the controlling device to the poison just out of his reach and every time Raph tried to get it with his one unbroken arm an electric shock was issued, illustrated by bolts of lightning going from the remote control to Raph's body. Ramakha was taking the more traditional approach to torture and was slamming large rocks into Raph's plastron, winding him and obviously making his lungs even more strained.

Donnie scanned over the other drawings and it took as while to see the appalling picture of himself, as the turtle with the purple stripe was lower than the other pictures; he was tied to an old-age torture rack, being stretched by Roshiri. Ramakha and Reginald seemed to be playing 'noughts and crosses' on his plastron and his legs, which were stretched out more than was natural; but they were not using pens, they were using a red-hot poker and a knife to make their marks. Ronald was cutting his fingers and toes off and, from what Donnie could see, he was also missing his tongue.

The four reptilian brothers shared a look of disgust and slight nausea at the sights that lay before them. In silence, they observed each other's pictures and the deathly stillness was broken only by Leo's authoritative voice,

"Standing here looking at these won't get us anywhere – we need to find them."

"Leo's right," Donnie backed his brother up in an equally solid voice, "whatever happens we're running the risk of at least one death."

"Yeah," Mikey agreed, enthusiasm now creeping back into his tone.

"Those sons-of-a---"

"Raph!" Leo hissed at his brother disapprovingly. Raph scowled but continued, missing out the word he had been about to put in.

"They won't know what's hit them," the red-clad turtle finished, "happy, oh fearless leader?"

"Ecstatic," Leo replied dryly, casting an icy look at his brother.

The turtles slunk through the streets of New York City, soft as mice, until they reached a point at which it would make sense to transfer their operation to the rooftops for a time. Clambering up the fire escape, they were nearing the top when Raph let out a cry from where he was a little way down the ladder. Donnie and Mikey, both of whom had already reached the top, turned and hurried back to the edge. Peering over the side of the building and down the ladder, they caught sight of Raph and Leo, just over halfway up, the first of the two clinging to a rung of the ladder by one hand, his other holding onto the latter, who had passed out and was dangling from his brother's slackening grip. Mikey, being the more nimble of the two at the top, leapt down with surprising grace, practically sliding down the ladder, and coming to a sudden halt just above Raph. Locking his legs around a rung, he let himself hang down until he could reach Leo. Taking hold of his older brother's arm, he waited for Raph to carefully climb over them. Raph copied Mikey's technique but grasped his youngest brother's ankles instead of Leo's. Donnie could now just about reach Raph's and started pulling them up, slowly but surely, until Raph was safely on the rooftop and could help pull their other two brothers to safety. Sinking down to the floor, Mikey tried to catch his breath while Donnie did a quick check over of Leo. Raph made a beeline for Mikey and helped the younger turtle up, patting him on the back as he did so in a silent acknowledgement of gratitude – after all, Raphael wasn't going to compliment someone that lightly, was he?

"What the shell?" Leo moaned as he regained consciousness. With one look at his brother's face, he sighed, "blackout?" he asked, though he didn't really need to wait for the answer.

"Uh-huh; Leo, what happened?" Donnie spoke gently.

"I'm not really sure – all I remember is pain and falling. I vaguely recall someone grabbing my wrist and cursing,"

"That would be Raph," Donnie laughed, shaking his head.

"I thought as much,"

"What kind of pain? How bad was it?" Donnie carried on, face deadly serious now.

"Not too bad – not intense enough or for long enough to let me know what was about to happen." Leo responded.

"Where was the pain?" Donnie raised this unexpected question so quickly that it took Leo a moment to register what he was supposed to be saying.

"Stomach…" he trailed off, thinking back to why this could have any significance. With a start, it dawned on him that he had read something about blackouts in the papers Donnie had given him, "that means that part of me is infected now, right?"

"Affirmative," Don nodded, "unfortunately."

"But there was no pain in the first blackout – why not?"

"I'm not sure – maybe that was just when it first started to work," Donnie shrugged, his face pensive.

"You ok?" Mikey and Raph arrived on the scene.

"Absolutely fine," Leo replied briskly, standing up, a wry smile passing over his grave face.

"Yeah, sure…" Raph muttered sarcastically, "So you ok to keep moving now or what?"

"Fan-bluddy-tastic – come on," he led the way onto the next rooftop, leaping the gap with ease as if nothing had happened, but the poison was running rampant inside him, playing havoc with his immune system and every other system there was functioning in his body.

Thankfully, there were no more blackouts for the remainder of the rooftop journey and the turtles all relaxed and let some of the tension and wariness flow out of them for a short while as they stared at the building directly opposite them; the Headquarters of the Four Human brothers. It appeared to be deserted but, from past experience, the turtles had learnt never to judge a book by its cover as things aren't always what they first appear to be. They scampered across to the edge of the forest and crouched down in some bushes, careful to check for any traps. Finding none, they all looked expectantly to Leo for an order of what to do next. His eyes flicked about their immediate surroundings and after a minute or two he turned to them and whispered,

"We'll go back across the street and find some shelter. We'll hide out there for the night and then start looking in the morning, when it's light enough to see any potential traps or secret hidey-holes. Right now, we'd only be beckoning them to capture us by presenting them with easy targets."

"So we gotta wait even longer?" Raph groaned.

"Yes, Raphael, we do, unless you want to get us killed with some idiotic and rash stunt?" Leo used his brother's full name to emphasise his point before heading back across to the back street from which they had just come. Raph hesitated, casting a glance back at the forest, before following his three brothers. Freezing halfway across the road, he sensed something watching him and whirled round to face the forest once more. Gasping, he could have sworn he caught a glimpse of two glowing red eyes from high up in a tree just above where he and his brothers had been talking moments before. He even thought he could make out the vague outline of a beetle attached to the luminous eyes. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, then squinting to try and get a better view, but the beetle was gone. Maybe he'd imagined it, or maybe it really was there. Perhaps it was Baxter Stockman, back in his beetle form, spying on them for the Shredder's brothers. Heart racing, he ran to join his brothers, finding his eldest brother waiting by the entrance for the alleyway for him.

"Raph, what's gotten into you? Stopping like that in the middle of the road! What if---" Leo stopped abruptly, "Raph? What's up?"

"Stockman…back as a beetle," Raph panted, "he was spying on us – we have to find somewhere a little further away for us to stay for the night."

"Stockman?" Leo had barely taken in the first bit of news when he was snapped into action, "Follow me – we have to get Mikey and Don and get out of here now!"

"Ok, so where are we going to stay?" Raph speeded his pace to keep up with his brother's quick stride.

"I don't…freeze where you are, Raph," the leader's voice was wary.

"Huh?" Raph questioned, bemused, but he did as he was told. Leo plucked something off of his shell and held it up to eye level. The two turtles examined it closely before Leo eventually confirmed what Raph had feared, "a bug – Stockman must have planted it on you so they could find us and kill us in our sleep. Well, that won't work," Leo spotted a car's headlights driving along the road outside the Foot HQ. As it stopped to let somebody out, Leo threw the bug into its path so the vehicle ran over it, leaving it smashed and broken on the tarmac, "there, that's that taken care of," he concluded cheerfully.

"Right…a place to stay?" Raph brought them back onto the problem at hand.

"Right – Donnie, Mikey," Leo called quietly as they walked. The two youngest turtles emerged seconds later, Donnie looking serious.

"Leo, we just found a bug on Mikey – there wasn't one on me – but it's destroyed now so I think we're safe. You two might want to check in case you've got one planted on you though."

"Way ahead of you, bro," Leo pointed to the squashed tracking device in the road, "and there's not one on me."

"Great – so we need to find somewhere to stay."

"We're going a little deeper into town so that they can't catch us in our sleep – we'll let them think we're staying somewhere in this alleyway, although they've probably realised we've discovered and destroyed their bugs and won't bother coming after us now."

The four of them found a derelict house in a filthy back-street next to a run-down club. There was an eviction and demolition notice on the doors of both the house and the club, which were adjoined. The door was open and, after double checking nobody was there, Leo announced that they could stay the night there,

"We'll have to have people on watch all through the night though and we'll swap watches every two or three hours. I'll take first watch, Mikey can take second, Donnie can take third and Raph can take fourth – understood?" he awaited their nods of approval. On receiving them, though they were reluctant to let Leo on watch at all under the current circumstances, Leo grinned at them, "Ok, so let's find the living room of this joint and get some form of rest."

"Sounds good to me," Donnie smiled tiredly, backed up by a huge yawn from Mikey. In the living room, there were two ragged old sofas, but they were soft and a reasonable substitution for a bed, so Mikey and Raph settled down on one while Donnie took the other.

The first hour of Leo's watch passed without a problem, and the only sound was that from the occasional passing of someone driving home from a late-night shift at work, most likely looking forward to a cosy bed to rest in, their only worry being will they still have to go in early the next morning and the only stress weighing down on them being a small pile of paperwork or a couple of bills that were slightly overdue. Such worries were a stark contrast to those of Leonardo and his family, who were constantly cheating death and facing enemies. But the harshest and most unjust of the differences between the two situations was the age – the humans who lived in the city and worked every day were twice the age of the turtles, who were mere teenagers. Sighing to himself as he gazed longingly out of the cracked and fogged up window at the world outside, Leo couldn't help but want something more – a little more freedom and a little less of hiding away and running from so many different enemies, all of which seemed to want them dead and stuffed. A sharp pain in his abdomen interrupted his chain of thought and he fell to the floor, clutching with clawed hands at where the pain was, as if he could grab it and rip it out to make it stop. Biting back a scream, and exchanging it for a barely audible whimper, he crawled over to the corner and tried to will the pain away. He knew a blackout would come at any minute; sure enough, he soon lost his grip on consciousness and blacked out, still curled up in the corner. He didn't know how long he had been out for but no-one else was awake when he came round and he looked at the dust-ridden clock on the wall at the other end of the room and a wave of relief surged through him as he realised that it was only just coming up to changeover time for the watches. Stumbling a little as he made his way over to his brothers, he realised there were two of Mikey and two of Raph on the sofa in front of him. The second ones were very faint outlines but Leo knew they would become clearer as time went on, due to the effects of the poison, until it would finally end in death if they didn't find the antidote. Forcing his morbid thoughts to the farthest reaches of his mind, he shook his youngest brother gently, careful not to wake Raph, and the two brothers silently swapped places with only a brief nod to each other.

**A/N: -** There you have it – find out what happens on the other watches in the next chapter and also what happens in the next couple of days. There has been a slight change to the amount of chapters – there will now be 24 rather than 22 as there's too much to cram into one chapter and I want to do this battle justice as it's what I've been building up through during the whole story! Enough from me, here's the shout-outs: -

**Lioness Goddess: -** I wanted a real brother moment between those two – oldest and youngest! Cliffies can be ok _sometimes_ if you're reading them, but not very often!

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**Chibi Rose Angel: -** Ah, I see – well, I think now would be an appropriate time to plead for my life! Pleeeaaaase don't come after me – heh heh, anyway, thanks for your review! And as for Leo needing his brothers? It's about to get a whole lot worse – and I mean a whole lot worse…

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**Pi90Katana: -** I love putting brotherly moments in and reversing Leo and Mikey's status for a scene is fun as usually its Leo telling Mikey off! Thanks for your review!

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**SassyBlondexoxo: -** Aw, don't slap yourself! I'm just glad you've reviewed – it's nice to get a new reviewer this far into the story – keeps me on my toes! Hope this chappie answered any questions you had about the poison.

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**Lady-of-the-Rings: -** Thank you so much for your review – and yeah, a lot of people like that Mikey and Leo part and I'm really happy about it – it was one of my favourite bits to write and I've had a great response to it!

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**BlueRaven: -** I'm really pleased people are liking the Leo/Mikey brother moment – I wanted it in there because I loved it but I wasn't sure whether everyone else would – and the whole story is written now so I can make the updates once a week!


	22. Chapter TwentyTwo

**A/N: -** Ok; now this chapter is not a pleasant one – not in the slightest. It's not as bad as it could be – but it's pretty dreadful and I didn't like ending it where I did. But hey, I'm the author and I'm getting ready with an assortment of weapons and barricading myself in the shed – heh heh, read and review!

"Stupid Shredder and his stupid relatives," Mikey grumbled as he sat where Leo had been only half an hour beforehand, gazing out of the window. His breath misted up on the glass, which was already grimy, and he let out several long sighs, partly because he was fed-up but also partly because he liked what effect it had on the glass. He had only been on watch for ten minutes and already he was bored and more exhausted than he'd been before he got some sleep, though he figured that was probably because he wasn't fully awake yet. Rain started to fall outside in a thick drizzle, sliding down the window panes and seeping through cracks in the glass. Hearing a soft dripping sound behind him, Mikey noticed a leak in the roof, a bucket already placed under it, and he was mesmerised by it, although he was unable to explain why. His mind wandered to happier subjects and he thought of what they would do after they'd got rid of Shredder's brothers; they could go on a vacation to the farmhouse, they could go on a road trip with April and Casey or they could just have a little bit of a break at home. Before he knew it, Mikey had lost track of time and snapped back to reality twenty minutes after Donnie's watch was supposed to begin. Hauling himself to his feet, he shuffled over to where Donnie was sleeping and woke his brother gently, prodding him in the stomach when the purple turtle refused to get up.

"Just five more minutes," he mumbled in his sleep.

"C'mon, Donnie, it's your turn to watch now – you've had twenty minutes extra already!" Mikey whispered. At that, Donnie's eyes fluttered open and he sat bolt upright, getting up.

"Sorry," he laughed sheepishly, "forgot where we were for a minute,"

"Wish I could do that," Muttered Mikey uncharacteristically darkly.

"Don't worry, Mikey; soon this will all be over and we can have a break."

"That's what we said the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that, and---" he was stopped as Donnie clamped a hand over his mouth.

"I get the idea. Look, you just get some rest, okay? Things will seem better in the morning, you'll see."

"I hope so," Mikey smiled, lying down on the sofa and stretching out, dropping off almost instantly.

Donnie watched his brother sleep for a while and then moved so that he was sat in the middle of the room and could see everything around him. He looked over to where Raph and Leo were asleep on a sofa and smiled – the only time they ever got on with each other was when they were asleep.

"Huh, wish that was more often," he found himself saying aloud. Standing up, he decided to explore the ground floor a little. Making his way into the kitchen, he inspected the cooking facilities and the plumbing, finding that they were actually in perfect working order, much to his disappointment as he wanted something to set his mind to that was a little more of a challenge. Glancing round curiously, he saw an old television in the corner, along with a battered remote controlled car. Grinning to himself, he gathered the electronic stuff up in his arms and happily went back to the lounge, plonking himself in the middle of the room once more and setting about fixing the T.V. and toy car. Not really a challenge in normal circumstances but in such a dimly lit room with only kitchen utensils for improvised tools; it became a sort of game for the brainy turtle. He even felt a stab of disappointment and resentment when his watch was over and it was time to wake Raph. Moving his stuff to the corner of the room that Leo had collapsed in earlier, unbeknownst to him, he then woke Raph with a great deal of difficulty. The first time he tried, the hot-head just grunted and turned over, continuing to snore softly; the second time, he lashed out and hit Donnie while kicking the sleeping Leo at the same time. The leader's eyes snapped open and he glowered at the still slumbering Raphael and a vengeful grin passed over his features. He motioned for Donnie to stand back, which the purple-clad turtle did, albeit apprehensively, and leant forward to get his hands behind Raph's shell, the proceeding to mouth counting to three before pushing his brother off of the sofa and onto the floor with a dull 'thud'. Letting out a low and ominous growl, Raph got up and brushed himself off, but when he looked back at Leo the leader seemed to be asleep. Donnie led down facing away from his red-clad brother – it was all he could do to conceal a smile – and then prodded Leo, waiting for his older brother to respond.

"What?" Leo asked, opening one eye.

"Crafty," Don replied, grinning. Casting a look over to the sofa opposite them, where Mikey was 'asleep', he chuckled quietly at the look of amusement on their baby brother's face. He had clearly been awake and watching the whole run of events leading up to Raph's falling off the sofa.

Two hours later, a frustrated Raph scrabbled to his feet to wake his brothers. He had spent almost all of his watch time doing nothing but using a kitchen knife to play noughts and crosses with himself on the wooden floor, his mind subconsciously fixed on the drawings of their ultimate fates if the human brothers got their way. From what he was doing, it would seem obvious that Donnie's picture had stuck most clearly in his mind, but if someone were to look closely around the room then they would find the remote of the remote controlled car smashed in the middle of the room, a box of burnt-out matches floating in the bucket that was catching the water that leaked through the roof, and the shapes of lightning bolts drawn in the condensation on the window. These were all pictures he couldn't get out of his head; but he had become so absorbed in playing noughts and crosses that he had forgotten all else for a short, nearing blissful, time. He dipped his cupped hands into the bucket and then flicked the water at Mikey to wake him. The youngest turtle yelped but woke without fuss. Next he moved to wake Leo, shaking him roughly, but the oldest turtle was reluctant to wake. Raph gave up for a moment, pulled the cushion out from under Donnie's head and then went back to Leo, shaking him again. This time the older turtle stirred and opened his eyes, which were oddly glazed over. Raph frowned and led a hand on his brother's forehead before he could protest, leaping back with a cry of alarm.

"What's going on?" Donnie jumped off the sofa and pulled out his Bo with lightning speed reactions.

"Nothing," Raph replied hurriedly, not breaking eye contact with Leo, whose urgent stare warned him not to say anything. But that stare suddenly turned to stifled amusement and Raph slowly looked round, turning just in time to see Mikey tip the bucket of leak water over his head.

"That'll teach ya to use my own tricks to wake me! Ah, Raphy-boy, when will you ever learn not to mess with Mikey, king of the Pranks!" Mikey mock bowed, receiving a round of applause from Donnie and Leo while Raph glared daggers at him. Coughing dismissively, he looked up at the clock, "eight a.m.?"

"Yeah, a little later than intended," Leo wrinkled his beak, "but it will have to do – let's go and hunt down this hideout – and guys, you might want to keep an eye out for beetles that may be lurking in the shadows."

Forty minutes later and the turtles were well and truly lost in the forest to the, as you stand in front of it, left hand side of the forest outside the Foot Headquarters. They had found nothing; no clues, no traps, no Baxter Stockman, no secret hideout and no human brothers. They had devised a system to make sure that they didn't wind up in the same situation as last time with them all going missing, being split up, and captured. Each of them had not only their shell cells at the ready but also a rope Donnie had packed tied around each of their waists with about two metres between each of them. Leo was at the front, Raph next in line, Donnie third and Mikey heading up the rear and keeping a lookout for any possible scouts. Without warning, Leo stopped and the others walked into each other, ending up in a pile on the floor. Laughing nervously in an effort to relieve some of the anxiety in the atmosphere, they picked themselves up – all except Leo who remained on the floor, shaking, cursing and clawing at the right hand side of his chest.

"Blackout," Donnie analysed the situation instantly, "Mikey, you keep on watch. Raph, you can help me out here," he knelt beside his eldest brother.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Raph asked as he helplessly saw the pain passing in waves over his brother's face.

"No," Don answered shortly, "if we could do anything to stop or slow it then I would have done it a long time ago. All we can do for him now is in the form of finding and getting that controlling device; the sooner we get it, the quicker the antidote goes in. And the faster that happens, the faster he will recover." He led a hand on his brother's forehead.

"He's burning up," Raph said before Don's hand had even reached its destination.

"What? How do you know?" he felt Leo's head and his concerned eyes met those of Raph, "for how long?"

"I've known since the time I woke him up earlier. I don't know if it happened before that or not..."

"Then this is worse than I thought," Donnie sighed as Leo passed out.

"Whaddaya mean?" Raph looked a little horrified.

"I mean that it has progressed further than I thought it would have done by now. So we have to get moving, or we'll never find the hideout in time."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Raph gathered the unconscious and feverish Leo up into his arms, "Christmas? Because it sure as shell ain't gonna get here for Leo if we don't get this antidote!"

"He has a point," Mikey grimaced to Donnie as they followed Raph, still joined by the rope.

"I know," Donnie sighed in response, "and that's what's worrying me,"

"Whoa, way out on the creep-o-meter there, Donnie!" Mikey gulped, "and we don't even need to be thinking like that because it won't come to it!"

"I hope your right, Mikey – I hope your right."

"When am I not?" Mikey grinned, "Uh…on second thoughts, don't answer that!"

"Hey, guys, look!" Raph gasped, utterly exhausted, three hours later. Leo was still out cold and Donnie deduced that it must have been the tranquiliser coming into effect.

"What? I don't see anything," Mikey craned his neck excitedly, peering into the trees.

"Not _in_ the forest – above it!" Raph tried to point with his one half-free arm but almost dropped Leo so he gave up; hoping Mikey had got an idea of which direction he was referring to.

"Smoke? That must be where the hideout is…" Mikey grinned, trailing off when he saw Donnie's doubtful face.

"Or it could be a trap," he pointed out, looking highly sceptical.

"Alternatively, it could be both," a sinister voice spoke, and Roshiri emerged with Ramakha from the bushes, "I believe you are looking for this, am I right?" he held up the remote controlling device for the poison and Raph let out a vicious snarl, "a-a-ah," Roshiri scolded mockingly, "you can't have it."

"You'll pay for what you did to our brother," Ramakha's normally gentle voice had turned to one of menace.

"And you'll pay for what you're doing to ours," Raph retorted sourly.

"Ah, so the poison it quick to work, I see," Roshiri smiled, satisfied glee on his face, and he looked to Ramakha, who seemed to hesitate before agreeing.

"Just what we hoped," he seemed to be rather half-hearted about the issue.

"Now, young ones - are you going to behave and come with us quietly or are we going to have to speed up the process of your precious leader's demise?" Roshiri sniggered. Donnie and Mikey both looked helplessly to Raph, who seemed to have adopted a temporary position as leader. He glanced down at the brother in his arms and then back at his other brothers and then to the two human brothers.

"How can you speed it up?" he challenged them, "there's only two buttons on that device and I assume that's poison and antidote."

"Correct, Raphael, and I commend you on your observance," Ramakha sighed, not by any means giving his all to the evil that should have been clear in his tone, "but we can simply shoot him with another dart – perhaps a dissolving poison dart – as I believe he has had an unpleasant encounter with one of those before."

"Raph, what do we do?" Mikey whispered into his older brother's ear.

"We go with them," Raph finally answered, going against all the instincts that were telling him to kick up a fuss.

"Whoa," Mikey muttered under his breath to Donnie as they were led to the hideout.

"I know," Donnie bit his lip, "Raph not kicking up a fuss? That's just not right,"

"Maybe he's in contact with Master Splinter telepathically or something," Mikey searched for reasoning.

"Possibly," Donnie shrugged.

Reaching the hideout, they found it was a dilapidated wooden hut of reasonable size but in disgusting condition. The once white paint was grey and flaking off in large pieces; the windows had no glass in them and the door was missing a hinge and so hung at an odd angle and was awkward to open.

"You are only in your first day and you already found us; I'm impressed," Reginald's greeting was not one to be desired as the turtles entered the hut. Donnie was beaten almost instantly over the head with a club, knocking him unconscious, following which he was tied to and old-age torture rack. Mikey yelped but before he could do anything else he was tacked by Ronald and, not expecting the attack, fell to the floor, where Ronald and Roshiri tied him up roughly, and then used a small step ladder to lift him and tie him to the rafters. Reginald made his way over to Raph and stood opposite the turtle, sneering at him.

"These images look familiar?" he asked casually.

"Too familiar," Raph barked back, barely keeping his temper in check.

"You gonna hand over your brother?"

"What do you think?" the red-clad turtle snapped sarcastically.

"I think you will…"

"Then you ain't thinking straight!" Raph growled.

"What is this?" Ramakha intervened, "a battle of the wits? Reginald, we're supposed to be chaining him to the wall here, not talking with him! Now, Raphael, hand over your brother or Michelangelo here will find himself losing his feet a little early in our torture schedule – we hadn't planned for him to lose them until a little later."

"Raph, don't do anything," Mikey called in a strained voice while he struggled against his bonds. Ramakha clicked his fingers in Roshiri's direction; Roshiri picked up the chainsaw that had been leaning up against the wall in the corner and handed it to his brother, who started it up,

"Don't make me do this," he seemed to almost be pleading, as if he didn't want to hurt Mikey. Donnie, who had just arrived back in consciousness, watched the unfolding of events in total shock. They couldn't cut his baby brother's feet off – they just couldn't – that was beyond inhuman, it was abominable and simply wrong! However, a moan from Raph's arms caused the whole scenario to come to a brief standstill. Raph put his brother down and stood defensively in front of him, Sais drawn and ready for combat. But he was helpless to do anything as Ramakha darted over to Mikey and drew his arm back, readying himself to do the dirty deed. The human had his eyes shut, Mikey noticed, but the turtle was still powerless to stop him as Ronald was holding his feet, which were bound together, in place. All Ramakha had to do was swing the saw round; and he did it with deadly accuracy.

**A/N: -** See what I mean? Not nice…please review for me and here are the shout-outs from the last chappie: -

**Lioness Goddess: -** I made your night? I feel special! And don't poke me! Lol, I figured that the whole threatening Mikey thing would get Leo going!

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**Chibi**** Rose Angel: -** Big trouble? Understatement of the millennium! Hope you liked this chapter – and keep restraining yourself from doing something stupid gulps although I was flattered by your comment!

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**BlueRaven: -** Wow! Have fun in Spain! I've never been – I really want to though – and it's such a short flight from England – but still my parents won't take me! Pfft, ah well – thanks for your review!

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**Cynlee****: -** Thank you so much for reviewing – and I agree – the brothers playing off each other is so much fun to read and write – I love it!


	23. Chapter TwentyThree

**A/N: -** No beating about the bush with this chapter – here you have it – read and review! Hope you like it!

"Kee-yah!" an angry voice cried as they intercepted the chainsaw and knocked it away from its target. Mikey had squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the worst pain he was ever going to feel in his lifetime.

"Leo!" Mikey beamed in relief when he opened his eyes to see who had stopped Ramakha.

"Hey, Mike," Leo greeted him wearily. Ramakha sighed and shut of the chainsaw, handing it back to Roshiri.

"Glad to see you awake to witness the torture of your brothers, along with suffering some of your own," Ramakha spoke softly.

"You don't have to do this, Ramakha, you know you don't. Think how you felt when your family were killed – when your children were slaughtered – and then think of the effect this will have on our father and friends." Leo tried to reason with the human, appealing to his better nature.

"I am sorry, Leonardo, but this must be done to avenge our brother." Roshiri cut in as Ramakha wavered slightly, "come on, Ramakha, we've chained Raphael up now so why not help us get this one, although I feel we do not need to tie him up too tightly, as the poison will stop him getting very far."

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" a livid Raph was screaming at Ronald and Reginald, who were struggling to fasten the chain around his leg. Raph was to be tied by only one ankle to the wall as part of his torture was to be the breaking of limbs, and he wouldn't make it far with broken limbs anyway. Leo was to be bound by the wrists and ankles with rope but not tied to anything in the room and the turtle could not put up much of a physical fight, having only just regained consciousness, but he spat in their faces and kicked out at where it hurt whenever he got the chance. Eventually he too was bound and powerless against the four human brothers.

"It starts," cackled Reginald harshly as he drew out a crow bar and walked over to Raph, his shadow looming over the turtle. Raising the bar, he brought it down with a sickening crunch on Raph's unchained ankle – his left. Biting back a cry of pain and turning it into a muffled yell, Raph cringed and shuddered as little bright lights popped before his eyes and his head span.

"Leave him alone!" Mikey cried before he could stop himself, instantly realising his mistake as Ronald advanced on him with a flaming whip,

"You want some too? Feeling a little left out, maybe? Well, let's see if we can remedy that, shall we?" he whipped sharply across the back of Mikey's thighs and the turtle whimpered. As soon as the whip hit, the wounds were closed by the heat, which made it doubly painful. Leo was so busy watching what was happening to his brothers that he didn't realise Roshiri was stood behind him, eyes lit up with hatred, holding a large club. He began to ruthlessly beat the poison-infected turtle. Leo resisted the urge to scream but couldn't hold back the sharp intakes of breath and occasional moan every time he tried to move or Roshiri hit him where he'd already been hit. Donnie, upon witnessing all this, had an impending feeling of doom as Ramakha, looking a little resentful about doing this, walked towards him with a knife. Looking up into the face of the human, Donnie knew it was pointless to reason as Ramakha was honour-bound by his oaths and loyalty to the Shredder to carry out the job, but he didn't relish doing it. He put the blade to the bottom of Donnie's plastron and pressed hard enough to draw a little blood but not hard enough to cause critical damage. Taking deep breaths to control the pain, unwilling to be the one to scream first out of the four turtles, he tried to work out what Ramakha was doing. After several strokes, it dawned on him; Ramakha was drawing a noughts and crosses grid on him – he should have known from the graffiti in the alleyway. There was another sickening crack from the direction of Raph and Reginald as the human swiped at the turtle's chained leg, the right, and hit him just above the ankle. This time it was harder than the last time and Raph almost screamed, yet again somehow managing to control it and turning it into a whimper this time, which sounded odder coming from Raph than a scream would have done. Mikey's eyes were starting to well up with the pain but he hadn't yet cried out, in spite of the welts up and down both his legs. Leo was being clubbed everywhere but his head so that he remained conscious and still he hadn't yelled. Donnie, too, was resisting it – although he'd bitten his lip so hard that it was now bleeding heavily, some of the blood running down the side of his face and some into his mouth.

Suddenly, there was a pause in the proceedings and Reginald roared in anger and pain. It looked as though Raph had decided to fight back as he had punched Reginald in the stomach and the human had doubled over, giving Raph the chance to head-butt him. But as Raph made triumphant eye contact with the human, he raised the crow bar again and brought it down on Raph's chest, cracking at least two of the turtle ribs before then using it to fracture Raph's left arm; and, this time, the turtle screamed.

"REGINALD!" Ramakha bellowed, stopping the carving of his third grid on Donnie's body, "all right, everyone, time to move on."

"At least I can still write," Raph groaned, now gasping for breath.

"You mean this is like a circuit?" Donnie asked in disbelief.

"Pretty much," Reginald grinned maliciously at him, throwing down his crow bar and taking up the knife that Ramakha had dropped, "so, Donatello, how would you like a game of noughts and crosses?"

"Do I have a choice?" the purple-clad turtle remarked dryly.

"No- you are noughts because you are nothing, and I am crosses."

"I think you're going to be beaten at this game, Reginald," Ronald laughed from where he was now stood by Raph, holding the controlling device. He 'accidentally' dropped the remote and Raph, forgetting entirely what would happen, tried to reach for it with his one good arm. Snatching it back up, Ronald turned a little dial on the side that Raph had not noticed before and an electric shock coursed through the turtle's body. Roshiri now stood by Mikey with a thin-bladed knife and began carving a picture of a stick-turtle being shot by a human – he would give those pictures names once he'd finished – laughing manically as he did so. It was now Mikey's turn to cry out in distress and the sound made his brothers cringe; the fact that they couldn't do anything to stop it hurt them more than the torture they themselves were undergoing. Ramakha, still looking highly uncomfortable, had donned a gauntlet such as the one Shredder used to wear when he was alive. He flexed his hand and examined the gauntlet, then pressed it to Leo's chest and drew it down his plastron, drawing blood and making the turtle thrash in agony, but he was unable to move as Ramakha had him pinned down; this he did over and over again, making it slightly deeper each time. Raph was now taking a breather from trying to get the device, his mind having finally clicked into focus as to what was going to happen every time he made an attempt at getting it, and was watching what was happening to Donnie with utter revulsion plastered over his face, the pain of his broken limbs momentarily forgotten. Donnie was being forced to tell Reginald where he wanted to put the noughts and Reginald would then do the crosses where he wanted them. Seeing his victim's distracted manner, Ronald prodded him with his foot to get his attention.

"Who's winning?" Raph asked his voice rough.

"I don't know," Ronald called out to his brother, "Hey, Reginald! Who's winning?"

"Blasted turtle! I don't believe it, he beat me again! Third time in a row – obviously not in enough pain," Reginald frowned then glaring at Donnie, who gulped.

"Time to stop for today, I think," Ramakha announced, having reduced Leo's plastron to a bloody mess but not enough so as to kill him. Seeing that his brothers had achieved much the same with their victims, he sighed and unfastened the bladed metal glove, tossing it to one side with disdain. Lifting his head weakly, Raph saw that darkness had fallen over the forest – hours had passed without them even realising – but that's what torture does to one who is in so much pain they lose track of time…

"Are we leaving them here?" Roshiri asked, breaking Raph's chain of thought.

"Yes – we'll untie them."

"Are you mad, Ramakha? They'll escape!" Ronald scoffed at his brother, sending another quick shock through Raph just for fun.

"Will they? Raphael cannot walk, Michelangelo will probably not be able to walk, Donatello is bleeding and his limbs will be weak from being on that rack for so long and Leonardo would never make it out of the forest." Ramakha gestured at each turtle in turn and the four terrified reptilian brothers couldn't even look up when their names were said.

"Fine – we will be back tomorrow, mutants, mark my words, for the next stage – then on the third day we will carry out the final stage…sleep well," Ronald laughed coldly and the four human brothers untied the turtles and let them slump to the ground unceremoniously before walking out. Looking back over his shoulder, Reginald added,

"And there will be a scout waiting outside this hut to inform us of any escape attempts, so don't try it."

Crawling over to Raph, Donnie winced with every movement as he tried to assess exactly how much damage had been done to him.

"Raph, your arm is fractured," he managed, his voice sore and raspy, "your left ankle is broken but your right, surprisingly, is not – it is only slightly fractured. You've cracked two ribs and bruised a couple of others." He stopped, falling forwards as his arms and legs gave way.

"You ok?" Raph muttered through heavy breaths.

"Better than you," his younger brother replied managing to push himself up and over to the wall so he could lean against it.

"Not difficult," Raph replied, using his good arm to pull his fractured one across his chest, where he held it tightly to him and shut his eyes. Donnie sighed and slid back down so he was led down; arms clamped across his bleeding plastron, and curled up into a protective foetal position, shivering as the freezing night air blew through the hut. Mikey watched the exchange between his two brothers, unable to move without a searing pain across the back of his legs where he had been whipped. He was taking shuddering breaths as he fought against the mixture of pain and cold that was threatening to overwhelm him. He tried to twist his head round feebly, wanting to see how Leo was doing.

"Leo?" he asked faintly into the darkness, only able to see vague outlines as the room was lit only by the light of the stars and moon through the windows. But he could see no outline where Leo should have been. Hearing something moving behind him, he froze in fear, even though he knew the human brothers had gone.

"It's me, Mikey," his older brother's voice whispered from where he had crawled over. Turning painfully to face the other way, he saw the faint outline of his brother and relief swept through him, "you ok?" Leo asked gently.

"You want the honest answer?" Mikey managed a shaky laugh.

"Stupid question, huh?" Leo sighed.

"A little," Mikey winced as a breeze came into contact with a still burning hot welt on the back of his legs.

"We have to get out," Leo put his head in his hands, "we have to get out of here now."

"But we gotta get the controlling device thingy," Mikey protested.

"Forget about it – if we don't get out of here then all of us could lose our lives."

"But they've got…" he paused and took a deep breath, "Stockman watching this place – we'd never get out."

"We need to at least contact someone," Leo's voice grew stronger, more determined.

"But…wait a minute…they didn't take our Shell Cells…" Mikey smiled, though he knew his brother couldn't see it.

"Exactly," Leo's triumphant voice was full of hope. He slowly reached down to his belt to try and find his Shell Cell but it was bashed to pieces, "the club," he cursed inwardly at himself, despairing.

"I think I'm led on mine…" Mikey trailed off.

"Don't move, Mikey – I'll see if Donnie has his." Leo hauled himself over to where Donnie was and put a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder. The purple-clad turtle looked up to see Leo knelt over him, bruised and bloody.

"Leo…what the---?" he was stopped with a wave of his brother's hand.

"Do you have your Shell Cell?"

"I don't know," Donnie pushed himself up into a sitting position, the feeling starting to return to his arms and legs and felt in his belt for the Shell Cell. Finding it he could have cheered with joy…but he didn't for fear of Stockman hearing and realising that they must have found something to help themselves with. Handing the phone to Leo, he continued speaking, "who are you phoning?"

"Master Splinter – he'll help us get out of here."

"But we can't get out of here,"

"Why not?"

"We have to get that device," Donnie shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, Donnie; if we stay here, we'll all end up dead,"

"But what about you?"

"Maybe this is the way things are meant to be."

"No," Raph's sleepy and pained voice growled from the other side of Donnie, "I'm not leaving here 'til we get that antidote."

"You won't have a choice in the matter," Leo pointed out very matter-of-factly, "because you, bro, will be carried out of here anyway."

"Try me," Raph challenged.

"Don't be an idiot, Raph," Donnie sighed while Leo dialled Splinter's number. When the rat picked up, he sounded very confused,

_"My sons, where are you? Donatello?"_

"No, Sensei, it's Leo, and we've been captured by the Shredder's brothers. We can't get out of here we need your help."

_"Have you got the antidote?"_

"No…we're leaving without it…if we stay here any longer we'll end up dead." Leo spoke reproachfully, anxious as to what response this news would get. There was a pause on the other end, longer than felt comfortable.

_"My son, this is your choice to make, but choose wisely. And---what the----keep away, fiends --- Leonardo, I will try to be there, but I'm under attack from…the Shredder's brothers!"_

"Sensei? Sensei!" Leo tried to get a response but Splinter was no longer there. Instead, it was Roshiri's voice they heard down the phone.

_"Whoever you are, the rat is unable to take this call at the present time. Phone back in two days time."_ They hung up and left Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey dumbfounded.

"Two days?" Mikey questioned, having managed to crawl over to the others.

"The poison's work will have finished in two days – they will have no need for us anymore. By then, I will be missing a tongue and all fingers and toes," Donnie grimaced sadly.

"And my feet will be gone!" Mikey whimpered.

"And I'll be on a one-way road to the afterlife with punctured lungs – great." Raph growled, "And Leonardo here will be overrun by poison and beyond all forms of help – fantastic."

"The sarcasm was barely detectable, Raph," Mikey allowed himself a genuine smile.

"Who says I was being sarcastic?" Raph replied wincing again as he accidentally knocked his ribs with an arm. Leo rolled his eyes,

"Guys, we obviously aren't getting out of here tonight – let's at least get some sleep and build up a little more strength to deal with whatever happens to us tomorrow," he sighed, looking at the dismal room around them. The four reptilian brothers barely slept due to the extreme and excessive amounts of pain they were going through, although they all had their eyes shut and were pretending so at least they weren't aggravating their wounds or over-taxing themselves.

In the early hours of the morning, the opening of the door caused their eyes to snap open. The four human brothers walked in and went to tie the four turtles up again. Roshiri re-chained Raph to the wall, which was not a problem. Mikey, also, was tied back up with very little problem. Donnie went with a little more protesting than any of the others but he was eventually tied down to the rack again. However, after Ramakha tied up Leo he was barely a metre away when Leo let out a wild shriek and started shaking trying to clutch at his side with his bound hands, which proved to be very difficult. Raph's eyes, which had previously been shut to try and block out what was happening, snapped open and the turtle desperately looked over to where Donnie was struggling against his bonds and pleading with the humans.

"Please, let me go to him – he's having a blackout – or at least untie him," he begged, receiving back-up from the furious Raph,

"Donnie's right – you can't possibly be that heartless, can ya?" Raph turned his head back to Leo and tried to use his one good arm to drag himself closer to his brother, but it hurt him too much.

"Leo," Mikey whispered, eyes glued to his oldest brother.

"I think we'll leave him," Roshiri examined his nails, unconcerned by the pain of the blue-clad turtle.

"Roshiri's right," Reginald and Ronald agreed in unison, then looking for the support of Ramakha, who shrugged and knelt beside Donnie,

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Sorry won't help my brother," Donnie spat back.

Meanwhile, Raph had managed to get close enough to Leo that he could reach him with his good arm. He held onto his brother and pulled him closer, resisting the urge to scream as the chains pulled tight against his fractured right ankle. Grabbing Leo's hand, he whispered to him, words that nobody else could hear.

"C'mon, bro, fight it – please – and you ain't never gonna hear me beg like this again – but we won't make it through this without ya – I know we won't – please, bro, fight it – come on, Leonardo!"

"Sorry…Raph…" Leo stammered, gripping his brother's hand tightly.

"Please, bro….please…" Raph stopped as Leo passed out.

"YOU – GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Roshiri stormed over and pushed Raph backwards, causing the turtle to yelp in agony. Raph wasn't to be dissuaded so easily though as he spoke back to Roshiri with fierce strength that far surpassed the current strength of his body.

"HE IS MY BROTHER!" he raised his voice, "AND IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SECOND YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC BROTHERS CAN KEEP ME AWAY WHEN HE NEEDS ME THEN YOU HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING!"

"How dare you…" Roshiri hissed silkily, picking up a large rock from pile and knocking the red-clad turtle unconscious.

"Roshiri, enough," Ramakha spoke with clear and rational authority from where he was now knelt by Leo, "this one will be out for a couple of hours at least, I should think, as will his brother be now you have done that."

"He shouldn't have spoken back to me like that," Roshiri declared resolutely.

"What would you have done if we had been in their place? Would you have stood by and let one of us, your brothers, go through as much pain as that?"

"No…"

"Then you should understand their position – and they weren't even trying to escape. Raphael was just trying to help; yes, he has a temper, as we know from the time of our alliance, but when it comes down to it he is always there." Ramakha sighed, "Come on – we will wait and resume this when all four are conscious."

"No, we do it now. If you want to leave it then fine, but we're continuing with ours,"

"Then Raphael gets several hours off, doesn't he? And you're telling me you would beat Leonardo while he is unconscious?"

"Yes, we would – and Ronald will, won't you, Ronald?" Roshiri threatened his brother with a knife, but Ramakha could not see this.

"And since when were you in charge?" Ramakha growled.

"I never said I was – but I'm saying we will do as we like on this – and Ronald will carry on with the rest of us, _won't you, Ronald_?"

"Yes, of course," Ronald answered, trying to make it sound as enthusiastic as possible, but it didn't come off too well.

"Very well – I will be back later. We will not start the next stage until tomorrow so don't try it or I shall know." Ramakha finished, sticking his nose up and stalking out of the room in a regal fashion.

Donnie and Mikey tried to stay positive all through their torture but knowing one brother had many broken limbs and had now been unconscious for five hours while the other was also out cold and being beaten at the same time was most disconcerting. Leo finally came round six hours after torture had started and he awoke with a strike to his stomach.

"What's going on?" he moaned groggily.

"Take one guess?" Ronald mocked him, striking the turtle down as he tried to push himself up onto hands and knees. Half an hour later, Raph also came round and looked about him just as the human brothers were beginning to get bored of the same torture method over and over. Once the seventh hour since it had begun passed, the three remaining human brothers left, feeling pleased with themselves, while Donnie fell off the rack, unable to move and Mikey slumped to the floor with cuts and bruises all over his head, neck and shoulders. Donnie had not been stretched so that it would cause lasting damage or discomfort – he had been suddenly stretched and then made to go loose again and Roshiri decided to have a little fun by going over the noughts and crosses marks once he got tired of Donnie's screams from the rack itself. Mikey, also, had suffered something slightly different to what had been planned for him. Instead of having bits of flesh gouged out he had Reginald slowly cutting and bruising him and basically using him like a living punch-bag.

"Leo…psst, hey, Leo!" Donnie croaked to his brother, who seemed to be lying motionless on the floor, "Leo, answer me!"

"What…?" Leo groaned.

"We can get that device tomorrow."

"How…?" Leo shivered, knowing the poison was coursing through him without mercy as they spoke.

"Well, Ronald has the controlling device, and he's meant to be cutting my fingers and toes off tomorrow." Donnie sounded almost cheerful and it confused Mikey.

"Dude…you shouldn't sound…so happy," he spoke slowly as the cuts all over his face re-opened if he moved his mouth too much or opened it too wide. Unfortunately, he was exhausted so when he went to yawn, several of the wounds opened up and he whimpered softly.

"I'm not – I just think I can get it off him when he goes to tie me up tomorrow," Donnie also yawned hugely.

"And if he doesn't?" Raph's weak voice sounded from the wall, "They don't necessarily tie up the one they're going to torture."

"Then whoever is being tied up by Ronald has to get it."

"We're not getting it," Leo snapped, "we're getting out of here,"

"But Splinter's been captured," Mikey blurted out, "he was our last hope."

"No…we still have April and Casey – they might help us."

"How do we contact them?" Raph sighed, "they ain't gonna go to the lair, are they? And we can't get to them through Shell Cell."

"The Lair – that's it!" Leo snapped his fingers, "we call Spl---" he shuddered and then lurched forward, throwing up violently and barely managing to move so he would miss landing in his own vomit before falling forwards onto his face and gasping shallowly for breath. The tragedy of it was that none of his brothers could reach him and Donnie could only just achieve getting his Shell Cell out of his own belt and dialling Splinter's number. But the voice that answered it was not Splinter's – it was Ramakha's.

_"Donatello, what do you think you are doing?"_

"How'd you know it was me?" Donnie asked, surprised, momentarily forgetting that the person on the other end of the phone was an enemy.

_"Your name flashed up on the screen – listen, you must get out now – I'm on watch of Stockman's monitor so I can turn a blind eye – I don't want to see you get killed. I can't give you the antidote, for my brother Ronald carries it, but I can save three out of four of you right now."_

"What's the catch?"

_"That you go back to my old house where my family's graves are – I left the address in your lair – and change the flowers once a month. Also, I wish to be buried alongside them when I am dead,"_

"That's all? You would do that for us?"

_"Go, now."_

"But we can barely move…"

_"Your Sensei is waiting at the edge of the forest along with your friends, Casey and April – after I left; I journeyed to your lair and freed him, then going to the living quarters of the Joneses and getting them to bring down a large van to the edge of the forest and telling them to wait there for you."_

"One problem – Raph can't walk, Leo is in no state to do anything and Mikey and I can hardly support our own weight, let alone anyone else's.

_"Then you must get out on your own, Donatello, and bring your Sensei and the Joneses to the hut, by which time I will have shut down Stockman's monitor."_

"Ok – Ramakha? Thank-you; as Leo would say, you truly have honour and he who lives with honour shall die with honour," Donnie hung up, "Ok, guys, I'll be back in a couple of hours – or if I'm not then Splinter, April and Casey will be – we're gonna be ok,"

"What about the antidote?" Raph asked, raising his head feebly.

"We can't get it. But this is our chance to escape – and we're on Leo's orders not to get the antidote and risk our escape. We'll see what we can do once we're clear of this hut – back soon," he crawled out of the hut and braced himself to face the forest ahead of him, on full alert for traps and other such hindrances.

**A/N: -** That has to be one of the longest chapters yet – and now there is only one more to go. So, my friends, the final day is approaching – get ready for it – and here are the shout outs: -

**Cynlee: -** gulps heh…ahem…uh…you don't have to use the chainsaw now…heh…um…draws double katana and readies self to fight Anyway, I hope you find this chapter's ending slightly less creepy, although the content of the chapter may be a little more nasty and horrible – thanks for the review!

**Chibi Rose Angel: -** I didn't do it, it wasn't me, Mikey is still footful – um, ok, I'm sure that's not actually a word – oh well. Now do ya forgive me? big turtle eyes I didn't hack his feet off – that may still happen yet but I'm not revealing anything! I'm glad you're still enjoying this story and hope you'll read an expansion of four pretty central characters in this story (and no, it's not the turtles!) if I do one!

**BlueRaven: -** I'm glad you liked it (both the chapter and your holiday!). And Spain is one of the top countries on my list to visit – my school were doing a Spanish exchange this year but it overlapped with a show I was in so I couldn't go sniff - maybe next year though. Gracias para tu critica y espero tu gusta este capitulo – um, if ya don't know Spanish then that's 'Thanks for your review and I hope you like this chapter…I think!

**Lioness Goddess: -** I agree completely – they are poopy-heads! And Leo woke up… J …anyway, I'm glad you liked my cliff-hanger – I was a little apprehensive about writing that one! Heh thanks, as always, for your review!

**BubblyShell22: -** I will have to check that CD out – I've never heard it – she's not really that popular where I live! I'm glad you can review again now – I did wonder what happened to ya! It's great that you're back and thanks for your review!

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: -** Ok everyone, I'm going on holiday from the 26th August to the 2nd September so there won't be an update next week - but I promise that the last chapter will be up before the 6th September as that's when I go back to school and I want this to be done before then.

Thanks and keep reviewing! See you in a bit!


	24. Chapter TwentyFour

**A/N: -** Ok, before I let you read this final chapter, I have to say this: Thank you so much to all my dedicated reviewers who have stuck with me all the way through this story – it's been great to read your reviews each time as they always make me smile. I am stunned at how many reviews this has had and really cannot believe my luck with it. So here is the final chapter of **Wreaking Revenge** and please leave me one final review at the end and let's have this go out with a bang! Thank you again! Enjoy!

Having watched their brother leave, the remaining three slumped down where they were and thought of all the possible consequences of the situation. Raph was unable to move at all, Mikey was able to haul himself along the floor a few centimetres at a time and Leo was still led face down and unmoving.

"Leo?" Mikey ventured, halting his attempt to get any closer to his two brothers. When he didn't receive an answer, Mikey turned to Raph, "is he…?"

"I'm ok…" Leo spoke softly, hoarsely, and pushed himself shakily up onto his knees, "where's…Donnie?"

"He's gone – he went to go find Splinter."

"Splinter? But…he'll never make it,"

"It's a long story, bro," Mikey sighed tiredly, "we'll explain later."

Meanwhile, Donnie was struggling through the forest, sticking close to the floor as he could currently crawl a lot faster than he could walk. He had been going for about forty-five minutes and, so far, he had not come across Baxter Stockman or any traps, _man, have I been lucky or have I been lucky?_he thought. But as soon as these thoughts crossed his mind, he saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him from a bush ahead.

"Famous last words," he muttered, subconsciously slapping himself for jinxing his luck so far.

"Famous last words indeed, turtle-boy," Stockman emerged from the trees, though it was not his human solid head but a projection of it that was seen.

"Keep away, Stockman – you'll never alert the humans – you're monitor has been shut down!" Donnie smiled lop-sidedly.

"You lie," Stockman hissed, "and now I will kill you and your brothers will die. Speaking of your brothers how is Leonardo? Poison not working too fast, I hope. I wouldn't want his end to come too quickly,"

"It won't," Donnie scowled darkly, "because his end won't come – we'll get the antidote and you'll pay for this!"

"Try me," Stockman advanced, powering up some sort of gun that was attached to one of his beetle legs. Donnie barely managed to roll out the way of a shot; he had no idea how far from the edge of the forest he was but he decided to yell for help in case someone heard him. It was a long shot, but certainly worth a try.

"SPLINTER!" he yelled. Stockman momentarily froze then, realising no help was on its way, began to power up his laser again, chortling viciously to himself. As the shot was about to fire, Stockman was beaten aside with a white hockey stick,

"GOONGALA!" Casey shouted triumphantly, "take that, ya lousy excuse for a beetle!"

"Casey – thank shell," Donnie smiled, relieved.

"Donnie, you look terrible! We gotta get you outta here – hey, where are the others?" Casey craned his neck to look past the turtle, who he had now helped to his feet.

"They're back at the hut, in an awful state – we have to get them out! Mikey can probably just about walk, but if we don't hurry then he won't have any feet left to walk on! Leo and Raph are not doing too good so we have to hurry."

"I got it; ok, let's get you back to the Battle Shell and me, April and Splinter will go find your brothers."

"I want to come back too,"

"No, Donnie, you ain't in a fit state to do anything." Casey helped the turtle out of the forest and after about twenty minutes they reached the Battle Shell. Splinter and April both hurried forward, looking very worried.

"Don, what happened? You look awful!" April exclaimed, hand over her mouth in shock as she took in the state of her friend.

"My son, where are your brothers?" Splinter asked after having got over the state of his second-to-youngest son.

"Still in there – I was the only one fit to get out, Sensei, except maybe Mikey but I didn't wanna send him out."

"We must get to them – you will have to tell us the way, my son, as I will not allow you to venture back in there."

"Ok, Master Splinter," Donnie sighed, knowing it would be fruitless to argue. He gave them detailed directions, not easy considering it was dark and the main way to get to the hideout was to keep going straight.

"We will find it, Donatello, do not worry – now, get into the Battle Shell and wrap yourself in a blanket – we will see to your wounds once you are all safe. Do not reveal yourself to the enemy, my son. It pains me to leave you on your own but, from what you have told us, I fear all three of us will be needed in the forest."

"You got that right, Sensei," Donnie bit his lip, waving them off before staggering into the back of the Battle Shell and collapsing, snatching up a blanket and pulling it tightly around himself, trying to shut out the pain from his wounds and the panicky feeling that his brothers would not be found.

Back in the hut, the three turtles were jerked to life by the creaking of the door, and the first light of dawn streaming through the windows.

"Master Splinter, thank shell you're--- Roshiri…" Raph's voice faded and died in his throat as the human walked through the door, flanked by his three brothers, Ramakha at the back looking scared and distraught.

"We heard a scream in the forest and, once we fixed our communications to Baxter Stockman, discovered that your brother, Donatello had escaped. He may have got out lightly, but you won't. Ramakha, the chainsaw on Michelangelo; Ronald, you held Reginald with Leonardo as your turtle seems to have run away. As for me," he crossed the room in three quick strides to Raphael, "I believe I am due to finish you off, Raphael, am I not?"

"Keep away from me, scumbag," Raph growled menacingly, finding his voice again at exactly the right moment.

"Tell you what, Raphael, I'll make a deal with you," Roshiri studied his nails and then flicked his eyes to meet those of the red-clad turtle, "how about every time you backchat to me I do something to one of your brothers?"

"You wouldn't dare…"

"Alternatively, how about you watch a little horror-movie style entertainment – you might enjoy it," Roshiri roughly turned Raph's head to face where Ramakha had fired up the chainsaw and was about to use it to remove Mikey's feet. At the same time, Leo was suffering another attack from the poison, his screams chilling Raph through while he had the visual of his other brother pleading with the human to have some mercy.

"Ramakha," Mikey was begging, "you were helping us – why are you doing this? Dude, snap out of it, please?"

"Stop it," Raph whispered, "Stop it,"

"What's wrong, Raphael? Not your style?"

"Raph," Mikey sobbed, "shut your eyes – you shouldn't see this,"

"He is right," Ramakha echoed woodenly, "you should not watch, for your own sake."

"He will watch!" Roshiri snarled. Ramakha's hands were shaking as he prepared to do the deed he'd almost been forced to do two days before. But with one last look at Raph's pained face, Mikey's tear-stained and bloody one and Leo's wide eyes as he fought to stay conscious, he turned away, shut off the saw and threw it so it landed just in front of Roshiri's feet.

"Sorry, Roshiri, I cannot do it. I am in charge here and I say that this is wrong and unjust. Their other brother is probably lying dead in the forest, Leonardo will be beyond help as of tonight, Raphael is broken in body and spirit and Michelangelo's light-hearted playfulness is no longer visible. They have received punishment enough in my eyes, and I know how it feels to lose a family. I could not do that to anyone else – we lost one family member as they are soon going to – isn't that enough for you?"

"Ramakha has a point," Reginald piped up unexpectedly.

"Traitors…" Roshiri narrowed his eyes at Ronald, "are you with them or against them, Ronald?"

"Ronald, you know what's right…"

"I…" Ronald racked his brains for the right words, "I don't want to pick a side…"

"Then you are weak!" Roshiri bellowed, drawing a sword from his belt and running at his brother, decapitating him with one fell swoop, Ronald's head, bearing a shocked expression, then rolling across the floor and stopping by Reginald's feet.

"He was not weak…you call him weak for not choosing between his brothers, like you call us weak for doing the right thing," Reginald's breath caught in his throat along with a lump and tears building up behind his eyelids, which were shut as he tried to control himself.

"Roshiri, stop this madness now," Ramakha's temper was beginning to flare up, "you are being reckless and you must stop it!"

"You cannot order me around! Just because you were the leader of the Elite it doesn't make you the leader of my own personal choices and of who I get vengeance on. He snatched the remote from Ronald's dead body and held it up, "Now, I shall destroy this, thus leaving the poison to finish its work without disturbance."

"No…" Raph took a deep breath and summoned his strength to use his good arm to grab the human's ankle and overbalance him. Roshiri, however, did not fall but merely stumbled a few steps before kicking Raph off of him. Ramakha drew his sword and spoke in a voice far from how he usually sounded,

"Roshiri, turn and fight,"

"What?" a flicker of fear showed in the other human's eyes.

"You heard," Ramakha sounded exactly like the Shredder did as he spoke.

"You want to fight me?"

"For possession of the controlling device; you win, you can destroy it. I win and I take it to do as I wish."

"Very well," Roshiri nodded and he and Ramakha began to circle, while Reginald untied Raph, Mikey and Leo, leaving them crumpled on the floor. A heated fight began and Mikey watched in silence while Raph made a valiant attempt to get to his coughing older brother. Roshiri was definitely a quicker, more agile fighter but Ramakha was intimidating and made the other nervous, fighting with anger rather than skill. Both were evenly matched and the fight could have gone either way. Neither one would admit defeat until they were dead on the ground, which meant that neither one appeared to get tired. As Roshiri suddenly appeared to get the upper-hand, three more figures burst into the hut; Master Splinter, angry and ready to fight, Casey Jones, furious with his hockey stick in one hand and golf club in the other, and April Jones, livid with her hair scruffy and framing her face, which was contorted with rage. While Roshiri was distracted, Ramakha took his chance and stabbed him, just missing his heart. Reeling round in pain to face his smirking brother, Roshiri drew his arm back and threw the remote out of the window and into the depths of the forest before rounding on Ramakha and fighting once more. Knowing that his time was running out, Roshiri held his sword up to Ramakha's neck. At the same time, his brother had his sword over Roshiri's heart.

"Stale-mate," Ramakha panted.

"You kill me and I kill you," Roshiri echoed, blood beginning to show through his shirt.

"Likewise, brother, likewise,"

"And the remote is gone – you'll never find it now."

"Reginald," Ramakha barked in an orderly tone, "you must find that controlling device and then press the antidote button as soon as you find it. You have not got long as I seem to recall that we made it so that the poison would kill Leonardo slightly earlier than three days as a sick joke, though now I no longer see what was amusing about it. You have only twelve hours as it must be found before five o'clock today, understood? Goodbye, my friends, and remember your promise. Brother," he addressed Roshiri, his voice making him sound noble, "I die for honour," he thrust his sword through Roshiri's heart and at the same time had Roshiri's sword plunged into him, but it missed his neck and slid just under his collarbone on the right hand side. Both brothers fell to the floor and Roshiri died almost instantly, not even trying to fight for life.

After a stunned silence, Reginald bowed to the turtles, Splinter, April and Casey,

"As the only one who remains and on my brother's wishes, I shall find that controlling device. It does not matter where you are in relation to where I am, as long as it is pressed before five o'clock. I bid you all farewell as I must take my brother up to our home to tend to his wounds, and then I shall most definitely start searching - I trust you can find your way out of the forest,"

"We shall manage – thank you, Reginald-san," Splinter bowed to the human and Reginald cast one last look at the bodies of his two brothers before leaving the room with Ramakha in his arms and heading up towards the Foot Headquarters.

"Guys, you…" April couldn't find the words as she made her way over to where Leo and Raph were.

"Mrs. Jones, you shall help Leonardo. Mr. Jones, assist Michelangelo,"

"I can manage, Sensei," Mikey got to his feet, albeit unsteady and took a few tentative steps.

"Mr. Jones, your help shall be needed with Raphael then – you shall have to carry him carefully. Michelangelo, you cannot make it out without assistance and I will help you to walk."

"Thank-you, Sensei," Mikey smiled weakly, putting some of his weight on the rat. Slowly, the six of them headed out of the forest. Leo was still having an attack, and from the length of time it had gone on for and the fact that he seemed to be hurting all over signaled that it could be the start of the final attack, heralding that his death was close at hand.

Finally reaching the Battle Shell, Donnie staggered out to meet them and Mikey related the story in disjointed words as his teeth chattered and the inflamed welts on his legs caused him excruciating pain. Raph was now out cold, knowing that he and his brothers were in good hands and were going to be treated, while Leo was still fighting off the screams as his attack worsened. Donnie and Mikey were sat in the back of the vehicle with their brothers and April, who was doing all she could to help each of them, while Casey drove them back to the lair and Splinter scurried off ahead to prepare his sons' beds and set up the first aid supplies they were likely to need, which was pretty much all of them!

By three o'clock that afternoon, the four brothers were all in their own beds; Raphael was still unconscious but his limbs had been splinted and bandaged, Mikey was in the bunk above Raph and in a fitful pill-induced slumber with cooling tonic and antiseptic cream on his legs and plasters and bandages adorning him. In Donnie and Leo's room, the purple-clad turtle was not in his bed – instead, still wrapped up and now covered in bandages and cream than stung immensely, he was sat by his brother and was dabbing at the feverish turtle's forehead with a cool flannel. Leo's wounds had also been cleaned and bandaged by April and Casey between them and now the humans were speaking with Splinter and packing away the bits and bobs they wouldn't need any more.

"Reginald will…" Donnie winced as one of the grids carved on his plastron sent a burst of pain through him, "he will find that remote, you'll see."

"Donatello!" April bustled into the room, "you are supposed to be in bed! Get up there now!" she helped him up the ladder and into his own bed, "we will take care of Leo."

"How can I possibly sleep when he keeps crying out every few minutes?" Donnie protested, "I may as well do something useful!"

"Don, please just go with me on this one, okay? I know you're used to fixing up your brothers but you need to be fixed up too this time and I will not let you over-work yourself while you're in such a fragile state,"

"I'm fine, April, really," Donnie lied through gritted teeth.

"Now you sound like Leo – you're not okay, Don, and you know it, so just rest. You can do no more for any of your brothers. You already saved their lives by finding us back there, so now you have to have a well-earned rest, yeah?"

"Yeah," Donnie agreed reluctantly, "You'll keep an eye on the others though, won't you?"

"Of course, now get some sleep before I'm forced to drug you," April grinned, kissing him on the cheek before leaving the room.

"Yes, mother," Donnie muttered sarcastically.

"Don't push your luck, young man," April joked back from outside the room, "I heard that!"

Leo's condition declined rapidly and as four o'clock approached, there was no sign of any change.

"Maybe it gets worse before it gets better," Mikey suggested sleepily, having woken up when he heard his older brother moan his way back into consciousness in the bunk beneath him and instantly ask Casey, who had been checking his injuries, how Leo was doing.

"I don't think so, Mikey," Casey sighed, "Ok, Raphy-boy, you gotta try not to move too much or you'll end up doing even more damage to yourself." He left as he heard April call him from where she was in the living room.

"Hey, Ape, what's up?" he put an arm round her and led her to the sofa, where the couple sat down.

"The screaming has started again." She stated simply; Casey knew exactly what that meant.

"Starting to look hopeless, huh?"

"Splinter's in there with him – we tried to get Donnie to move in here but he wouldn't leave."

"Can ya blame him? He wants to be in there for his brother."

"I know, but I don't think it's fair that he can be in there and Raph and Mikey aren't allowed in. If one is there then they all should be there." She grumbled. Right on cue, Donnie, helped by Splinter, shuffled out of the room and was led into Raph and Mikey's room. Splinter then emerged from there and put a hand on Casey's shoulder,

"I request that you do not come into the room,"

"Sure thing, Master Splinter," Casey replied, "Uh, is Leo doing ok?"

"Worse than I would have expected, but there's less than an hour to go."

In the forest outside the Foot Headquarters, Reginald spotted a small object in the undergrowth and bent down to pick it up,

"Alleluia," he sighed in sheer relief as he pressed a green button on the device he held and then pressed it again for good measure. At that moment, there was a short beep from the object and a smile broke out on Reginald's face, "I think, my friends, I have found this not a moment too soon," he glanced at his watch, "fifty-three minutes and forty two seconds – how long you had to live before, Leonardo – now you have the rest of your life to look forward to."

A deathly silence filled the lair as half-past four approached. Leo's attack had begun to die down, which everybody assumed meant that it would soon be the end and his body was beginning to shut down. The minutes passed in what seemed like hours and Raph, Mikey and Donnie were all awaiting news. What they didn't expect was a sharp knock on the door of the lair, breaking through the silence. April, seeing that nobody else was going to do it, answered the door and gasped in surprise as Reginald and Ramakha strode into the room, a bandage peeking over the top of Ramakha's black shirt. They were wearing black, floor-length trousers and black, light-weight shirts with a pocket on the left hand side over their hearts. On these were blood red embroidered 'R's encircled by silver swirls and the Japanese symbol for peace underneath the 'R's.

"We come to see how you all fare," Ramakha greeted, "ah, Mrs. Jones, more beautiful each time I see you,"

"Hands off, buddy," Casey snapped out of his dream-world, "she's mine – go get your own!"

"Apologies, Mr. Jones, it was intended as a joke," he winked at April, who giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," Casey muttered, sounding uncannily like Raph when he was in a bad mood.

"How are our reptilian friends?"

"Not so good, I'm afraid," April wrinkled her nose and frowned, "um…not meaning to be rude but I don't see why you choose now, when Leo is almost dead, to turn up for a friendly visit."

"We came to inform you that we pressed the antidote button on the remote half an hour ago," Reginald beamed at her.

"You…you did?"

"We did,"

"Master Splinter," April gasped happily as Splinter arrived from Leo's room, "the reason Leo's attack died down was because they pressed the button! The poison is being wiped out!"

"I know,"

"You know? How the heck do you know?" Casey exclaimed, puzzled.

"Uh…hey," Leo spoke from behind Casey, grasping a chair for a little support as the dizziness had not yet quite passed.

"Hey," Casey greeted casually, then freezing and looking back round, "hey!"

"Hang on, I'll go get the others," Leo grinned, staggering slightly as he walked to the door of Raph and Mikey's room. Knocking, he received a quiet answer from either Donnie or Mikey; he couldn't tell which through the door as the voice was so soft,

"Can I come in?" he asked. After hearing three gasps on the other side of the door, it clicked open and Donnie was stood there, utter shock mixed with an overjoyed grin on his features.

"Leo!" Mikey's eyes lit up as his oldest brother stepped into the room, as if the poison had never existed and only the torture had been carried out. The youngest turtle carefully climbed down the ladder of his bunk bed and hugged his brother. Moving past his two youngest siblings, Leo sat on the edge of Raph's bed, where the hot-headed turtle was propped up on several pillows, grinning like a Cheshire cat – an expression which was reflected exactly on Leo's face,

"Hey, bro, how ya feeling?"

"Fine," Leo answered shortly, taking in the amount of bandages covering his brother, "but you don't look so good…"

"Firstly, you ain't totally fine so don't kid me, and secondly it ain't as bad as it looks,"

"Raph, you've got two cracked ribs, a fractured arm and ankle and a clean broken ankle –and you're telling me it's not as bad as it looks?"

"You're no better," Raph mumbled grumpily.

"I am,"

"No you're not,"

"Am,"

"Not,"

"Am,"

"Not,"

"Guys…" Donnie warned, shaking his head but smiling all the same.

"Some things never change, do they? Leo and Raph are just as grumpy and up-tight as ever," Mikey laughed heartily, receiving a bap round the head from Leo, who was now standing, and had a pillow thrown at him by Raph, "What? I was just saying!"

"If you ever need an ally, then you know who to call," Reginald told everyone once they were all gathered in the bedroom of Mikey and Raph a few minutes later, after having witnessed Splinter give his sons a very half-hearted lecture about bickering and throwing things at each other.

"And we say the same for you," the rat declared.

"Ladies, gentlemen, turtles, rats…and Raph," Mikey poked his tongue out at Raph, who refrained from throwing something a little more pointed, like his Sais, at the orange-clad prankster.

"What is it, Michelangelo?"

"This is the day we never thought would come in a billion, trillion years! The day we make peace with the Shred-heads relatives; to be honest guys, I thought you were total boneheads even when we were allied with you for a while last time, but it's safe to say you've reversed that judgement,"

"You think _we_ can throw something at him?" Ramakha muttered to Reginald.

"Better not, or we'll end up with a lecture too," Reginald replied, gaining a chuckle out of his brother and a snort from Casey who was stood nearby. April eyed her husband in revulsion at the sound but just contented herself with rolling her eyes and sighing loudly instead of making a comment.

"Well, everyone, this has been fun, but we have to go or we'll miss our flight." Ramakha announced.

"Flight? Where are you guys going?" Raph cocked his head on one side curiosly.

"To Japan – we do not wish to stay here. We are having the Foot building re-furbished as a place of teaching for the martial arts and will return once it is completed to teach there. But first, we wish to take our brothers' ashes to Japan and sprinkle them in our homeland. We have forgiven Roshiri for what he did as his loyalty to the Shredder was more unwavering than our own and he never doubted the Shredder. Ronald could not make the choice between his brothers so he did no wrong. We hope you will also forgive us and our deceased brothers."

"We can, in part, forgive, but we will not forget nor fully forgive all that has been committed on your parts," Splinter sighed.

"We expected as much, and that, for the while, will do, though we hope that one day we can truly earn your forgiveness." Reginald inclined his head to April and Casey before bowing to Splinter and the turtles. Ramakha did likewise and the two brothers left the lair, leaving the others behind.

"Wow, teaching martial arts at the Foot building? That'll be something different," Leo mused.

"Change is good, my son, as I have told you a thousand times,"

"I know, Sensei,"

"Now, all of you off to your own rooms and Mr. and Mrs. Jones and myself will be in the living room enjoying dinner if you need us, but I absolutely forbid you to leave your rooms." He pointed his finger at them and ushered Leo and Donnie back to their room before joining April and Casey in the living room, meaning Mikey and Raph were left alone.

"So," Mikey yawned as he clambered back up into his bed, "any ideas how to amuse ourselves? Uh, Raph? You awake?" he climbed back down the ladder. Then, with a devilish grin, he glanced around the room until he spotted what he was looking for. Picking it up and taking the cap off, he crept towards his brother, permanent marker at the ready. As soon as the marker touched Raph's face, unfortunately for Mikey, the red-clad turtle woke up and roared louder than anyone had heard before,

"MIKEY!"

"What?" Mikey whined, "like I said earlier: 'Some things never change!'"

**A/N: -** I really, really, really hope the ending was ok – let me know what you thought of this chapter and of the story as a whole. Here is the last set of shout-outs, the ones from chapter twenty-three: -

**Cynlee: -** Happy ending like you thought! Yeah, some of the stuff in the last chapter was probably not everyone's cup of tea with the amount of violence in it but there is a happy ending so it's all ok! And thanks for all the reviews you've posted!

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**BlueRaven: -** I only know a little Spanish – I'm doing it for GCSE and am only halfway through the course – but it's a cool language! And I'm glad you've enjoyed this story so much! Thank you for all your reviews!

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**Lioness Goddess: -** Well, I could hardly have them be-foot Mikey, could I? That wouldn't really be fair – but then they are Shredder's brothers…Um…Tic-Tac-Toe – I'm not entirely sure what that is but Noughts and Crosses is where you have a 3x3 grid and you take turns (one person is noughts and one is crosses) and the first one to get a line of three (vertical, horizontal or diagonal) is the winner. Thank you for all your reviews of every chapter and the support throughout the course of the story – it means a lot!

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**BubblyShell22: -** I could never kill Leo with just a poison – he deserves to die with more honour than that. Thank you for all your brilliant reviews – and I'm really flattered you enjoyed this story so much.

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**Lady-Of-The-Rings: -** Can Baxter Stockman be considered a trap? He's definitely a hindrance! Thanks for all the reviews you've left – I'm grateful for every last one!

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**Eldarsevenstar: -** Lol, I don't succumb easily to mobs! grips handles of swords tightly but then sheaths them and besides, they got the antidote – any longer in that hell-hole of a hut and they would all have died! And I could never kill Leo like this – if ever I were to kill him then…well, maybe someday you'll find out ;-) Thank you so much for all the reviews you've left me and especially for this last one as it really made me smile!

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**Dreema Azaleia Wingblade: -** Ah, a new reviewer – excellent to see this late on! Thanks for your review and here is the final chapter of my story – hope you liked it! And Raph begging is definitely cool – fun to read AND write!

Thank-you again and again for all your reviews and I hope you enjoyed this story. There probably won't be another sequel of this massive length but there may be a Fanfiction that involves the Shredder's brothers at some point, to expand on their characters and more importantly how they got wound up with Shredder as a brother and about Ramakha's Secret Past with the slaughtering of his family – let me know if this would interest you! Thanks again and one last thing: review!

**D****ory's ****H****uman ****R****eplica**

**Xxx**


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